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 Cornell University Library 
 PR 6025.A779P4 1908 
 
 Peter Binney, ""'^^^'^^^ ™)f|„|| 
 3 1924 013 653 401 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92401 3653401 
 
PETER BINNEY. UNDERGRADUATE 
 
Tbc €^€rgre€a) Novels 
 
 Neatly bound in a delicate green cloth, with 
 pictorial design, all the volumes will be 
 really successful copyright works. It. net 
 each. 
 
 The previous volumes are : 
 
 A Pixy iO Petticoats 
 
 By John Trevena, Author of 
 
 " Heather," etc. 
 
 The Paii Mall Gazette says : "There is a breath of 
 Dartmoor in every other page of this delightful story; 
 It is published anonymously} but • its author, if a 
 novice— which One is-almost indlined to doubt — will be 
 called' upon for as much more df these breezy pictures 
 of the West as he can give us." 
 
 A LoDdoo <airl 
 
 By the Anonymous Author of 
 
 " Closed Doors," etc, 
 
 " Certain it Is that the author of this pitiless tale is 
 neither ordinary nor inexperienced. ' Baby] is a great 
 creation. She leaps from the printed page into lovely 
 merry life, and all through she exercises a spell over 
 one.' — Dundee Advertiser, 
 
 Tbc HoOsc of f1crrilc€S 
 
 By Archibald Marshall, Author of 
 " Peter Binney, Undergraduate," 
 " Exton Manor," etc. 
 
 Th^ Bookman says : "It is a pleasure to praise a 
 book of this kind, and rare to find one in which a 
 narrative of absorbing interest is combined with so 
 many literary graces." 
 
The Evergreen Novels. 
 
 PETER BINNEY, 
 
 UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 BY 
 
 ARCHIBALD ^ARSHALL 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the HOUSE OP MERRILEES" 
 
 "EXTON manor" "RICHARD BALDOCK " 
 
 ETC. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION 
 
 LONDON: ALSTON RIVERS, LIMITED 
 BROOKE STREET, HOLBORN BARS 
 1908-^/ I 
 
M^aa'^c 
 
£• jf. Benson 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 \ 
 
 I. 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 XVII. 
 
 MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND . 
 
 MR BINNEY INTERVIEWS ONE TUTOR, AND 
 ENGAGES ANOTHER .... 
 
 LUCIUS WINS A year's RESPITE 
 
 NO HELP TO BE GAINED FROM MRS HIGGIN- 
 BOTHAM 
 
 MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 
 
 LORD BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 
 
 MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT T'.IE UNION, AND 
 MAKES A DISTINGUISHEP ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 THE NEWNHAM GIRL 
 
 MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER AND 
 REBUFF .... 
 
 'THE NEW COURT chronicle' 
 
 ' PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN ! ' 
 
 LUCIUS MAKES ONE DISCOVERY 
 TOLLER ANOTHER 
 
 MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 
 
 NEMESIS .... 
 
 LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 
 
 THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 
 
 MR BINNEY DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A ' BLUE ' 
 
PETER BINNEY, UNDER- 
 GRADUATE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 
 
 ' I'll do it to-day,' said Peter Binney. 
 
 He had been sitting deep in thought ever 
 since he had climbed on to the omnibus out- 
 side his place of business in the White- 
 chapel Road. As the vehicle pursued its 
 ponderous way through the crowded streets 
 of the City, stopping now and again to add 
 to its load of homeward - bound business 
 men, Mr Binney sat in his seat, silent and 
 preoccupied, his eyes on the ground and a 
 thoughtful frown on his face. As it left the 
 Post Office, full inside and out, and bowled 
 smartly along the broad asphalted road 
 towards the Viaduct, his face cleared, the 
 light of determination shone in his eye, and 
 looking up, he said aloud : — 
 
 • I'll do it to-day.' 
 
10 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 His fellow passengers gazed at him in 
 surprise, and a young lady who sat by his 
 side, heavily fringed and feathered and laden 
 •with a huge cardboard box, laughed a coarse 
 laugh, and said : — 
 
 ' That's right, guv'nor, don't you put it off 
 no longer.' 
 
 Mr Binney had not intended to express 
 his determination aloud, and the notice his 
 remark had drawn annoyed him. As the 
 young lady was apparently turning over in 
 her mind further witticisms, he decided to 
 leave the omnibus and walk the rest of the 
 way to his house in Russell Square. He 
 made his way slowly down the unsteady 
 stairs, and the young lady said, — 
 
 'A good cup o' beef tea's what y-ou 
 want, George, and don't forgit the 'ot-water 
 bottle,' and as the omnibus pursued its way, 
 leaving him walking briskly along the pave- 
 ment, she leant over the side and called out, 
 ' Git Mariar to put a mustard plarster on yer 
 chest,' which made the people on the omni- 
 bus laugh, although Mr Binney could see no 
 humour in the remark. 
 
 He had come, however, to such a momen- 
 tous decision during the last half-hour that 
 by the time he had gone a dozen steps he 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND II 
 
 had ceased to feel any irritation at the 
 young lady's pleasantries, and walked 
 smartly along, his brain all on fire with 
 his mighty purpose. 
 
 Peter Binney was a small man of about 
 forty-five years of age. His hair was gin- 
 gery, and his whiskers decidedly red. He 
 looked rather like a little bantam-cock as he 
 strutted along, and this was a curious coin- 
 cidence, for he had made his fortune by 
 selling poultry food. 
 
 Every one has heard of Binney's Food for 
 Poultry, Indeed it would be quite impos- 
 sible for anybody who is able to read to be 
 unaware of its existence, for its fame is 
 blazoned on every hoarding in the United 
 Kingdom. It was Peter Binney who first 
 conceived the idea of advancing the cause of 
 art and advertising his wares at the same 
 time. In the early days, when the future 
 world-famed business was just emerging from 
 its chrysalis state of a little corhchandler 's 
 shop in the neighbourhood of the East 
 India Docks, he was content to publish a 
 picture of a simpering young woman in a 
 quilted satin petticoat and dancing shoes, 
 feeding a number of plethoric hens in a very 
 clean farmyard. But when the shop became 
 
12 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 a factory and Mr Binney's keen business 
 capacity began to tell, he issued his cele- 
 brated series of ' Raphael's Cartoons for the 
 Home,' across the sky of each of which ran 
 the inscription, ' Binney's Food for Poultry.' 
 After a little time he published an edition of 
 the ' Plays of Shakespeare,' in which all the 
 passages that Mr Bowdler would have 
 omitted were ingeniously converted by Mr 
 Binney into eulogies on his Food for 
 Poultry. Poultry and taste were alike fed 
 by Mr Binney, and his business flourished 
 accordingly. At the age of forty-five he 
 found himself a rich man, with a house in 
 Russell Square, a family tomb in Kensal 
 Green Cemetery (tenanted at present only 
 by his wife), and a son of about eighteen who 
 was being educated at Eton. 
 
 But to return to the present time and Mr 
 Binney's purpose. When he had let him- 
 self into the house in Russell Square, he rang 
 the bell and inquired of the parlour-maid who 
 answered it if Mr Lucius was at home. 
 Hearing that he was not, Mr Binney seemed 
 somewhat relieved, and went straight up into 
 his dressing-room, where he put on the coat 
 and trousers generally reserved for Sunday 
 wear, and exchanged his dark tie for a 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 13 
 
 brilliant red one. Then he looked at his 
 boots, and hesitated. They were neat 
 enough, but they had lost the sober brilliance 
 of the morning. There was a row of similar 
 boots freshly blacked under the dressing- 
 table, but even these must have wanted 
 something in Mr Binney's eyes, for after 
 looking at them thoughtfully he shook his 
 head, and opening the door stole quietly out 
 and upstairs into a room above his own. It 
 was rather an untidy room and evidently 
 occupied by a young man of athletic tastes, 
 to judge by the dumb-bells and Indian clubs, 
 cricket-bats, guncases and fishing-rods that 
 littered the corners. There was a row of boots 
 and shoes under the dressing-table here too, 
 and amongst them a pair of shining patent 
 leathers. Mr Binney made his way across the 
 room on tiptoe, and seizing the boots, trees 
 and all, retreated with them hurriedly to his 
 own room, where he sat down and put them on. 
 They were a good deal too big, but an extra 
 pair of winter socks set that right, and when 
 Mr Binney had buttoned them he stood up 
 on a chair and surveyed himself in the glaiss 
 with considerable satisfaction. ' I must get 
 a pai^ like that,' he said. Then he went 
 downstairs, and putting on his best hat and 
 
14 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 gloves, and taking his best umbrella out of 
 the stand, he left the house. 
 
 Turning to the left, Mr Binney made his 
 way towards Woburn Square. If he had 
 looked the other way as he came out of his 
 house he would have seen his son Lucius 
 coming towards him not fifty yards off. 
 Lucius was very unlike his father. He was 
 a good-looking boy of about eighteen, tall 
 and slim, with blue eyes and a pleasant, smil- 
 ing mouth fringed with a few fair downy 
 hairs, of which he always spoke collectively. 
 He was very popular among his school- 
 fellows, and was commonly known by the 
 name of ' Lucy.' 
 
 ' Halloa ! ' he said to himself as he caught 
 sight of his father coming down the steps 
 of the parental mansion, ' Where's the 
 governor off to,» I wonder 1 Looks jolly 
 smart, too. S'pose he's going to call on 
 that old woman. Jove! he's got a pair of 
 shiny boots on. I say, governor, you're 
 going it ! They're a bit too big for you 
 though, my boy. Shall I give him a 
 hail? Think I won't. He might want me 
 to go and call on the old tabby with him.' 
 
 So Lucius let himself into the house, 
 and went upstairs. As he passed his 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 15 
 
 father's room, the door of which was open, 
 he looked in and saw that the floor was 
 littered with the component parts of a pair 
 of boot-trees. ' Didn't know the governor 
 went in for those luxuries,' he said to him- 
 self. Then a sudden thought struck him ; 
 he went in and took up one of the pieces. 
 ' Well, I'm hanged ! ' he said in a tone of 
 deep annoyance. ' They are mine. And 
 he's actually got on my boots. There's a 
 piece of nerve for you ! There'll be a 
 row when you get home, young rnan. 
 I really can't stand that, you know.' And 
 Lucius went out of his father's room very 
 much annoyed. 
 
 We left Mr Binney making his way to- 
 wards Woburn Square. He walked on 
 until he came to a house with a brightly- 
 painted blue door, where he rang the bell and 
 asked if Mrs Higginbotham was at home. 
 The maid treated him with the subdued 
 cordiality of an old acquaintance and led him 
 straight upstairs to Mrs Higginbotham's 
 drawing-room, where her mistress was dis- 
 covered warming her feet at a bright fire, 
 and reading the Christian World. She wa£ 
 a stout, middle-aged lady, and wore a drest 
 of rich black silk which fitted her very well 
 
16 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 where it was meant to fit, and very well, too, 
 where it need not have been quite so parti- 
 cular. The room wore an air of warm, 
 solid comfort. Its decorations would not 
 have satisfied the late Mr William Morris, it 
 is true, but as they completely satisfied Mrs 
 Higginbotham, that was not a matter of 
 great importance. 
 
 ' Dear me, Mr Binney, this is very kind of 
 you,' said Mrs Higginbotham, rising to greet 
 her visitor. 
 
 Mr Binney shook hands with her 
 and took the chair to which she had 
 motioned him. He did not speak, but the 
 compressed upper lip and the thoughtful 
 look with which he regarded Mrs Higgin- 
 botham caused a slight fluttering in that 
 lady's ample bosom. With a woman's in- 
 stinct she immediately knew as surely as if 
 he had already told her what he had come to 
 say. ' He's going to do it to-day,' she said 
 to herself, and true to the tactics of her sex 
 she set herself at once to ward off the critical 
 moment as long as possible. She plunged 
 into conversation of the sprightly religious 
 order, for Mrs .Higginbotham was a good 
 woman and could talk by the hour together 
 of preachers and movements and causes, in 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 17 
 
 which conversation Mr Binney was quite 
 capable of holding his own, for he and Mrs 
 Higginbotham sat under the same preavner 
 and held the same theological views. There 
 was another point in common between them, 
 and while Mrs Higginbotham is struggling 
 to maintain a bright and "lively conversation, 
 to which Mr Binney replies only by terse 
 monosyllables, there will be time to explain 
 what this was. 
 
 Both Mr Binney and Mrs Higginbotham 
 had a soul above their surroundings. In the 
 case of Mr Binney this has already been indi- 
 cated by the way in which, while conducting his 
 business on the most approved lines of com- 
 mercial progress, he essayed to import into it 
 something better and nobler than the mere 
 pushing of his wares and the piling up of a 
 fortune. Those cartoons from Raphael had 
 infused a love of art into many humble homes, 
 and not a few minds had been enriched by the 
 perusal of Binney's Shakespeare (a play given 
 away with every sack of his food for poultry), 
 to such an extent that the deterioration of 
 eyesight brought about by the quality of 
 paper and print with which those master- 
 pieces were issued, was a very small matter 
 in consideration of the mental enlightenment 
 
18 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 which had been diffused throughout the 
 
 Jountry. 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham's aspirations were not 
 of so educational a character. Her Hterary 
 yearnings were satisfied by the weekly ap- 
 pearance of the Family Herald Supplementi 
 to which event she looked forward regularly 
 with, great pleasure. That excellent period- 
 ical never made its appearance in her 
 drawing-room, although sundry works of 
 fiction from the lending library found the 
 corner, dealing with the habits and customs 
 of the aristocracy, did. Mrs Higginbotham's 
 father had been a draper in a small way of 
 business, and her husband, beginning life in 
 her father's shop, by the time he died had 
 become a draper in a very large way^ 
 Wealth and luxury had been Mrs Higgin- 
 botham's lot for many years, but what she 
 yearned for was the larger, freer life, led by 
 those happy beings of whom she read in her 
 chosen novels. To be able to look upon a 
 lord without blinking ; to be able to look 
 upon lords every day of your life ; to have it 
 said in a newspaper, ' I saw Mrs " Fluffy " 
 Higginbotham ' (Fluffy had been the term 
 of endearment enjoyed by the late Mr 
 Higginbotham) 'sitting under the Achilles 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 19 
 
 Statue in a plum-coloured gown with lettuce- 
 green revers ;' to have cards of invitation 
 pouring in, every other one illuminated by a. 
 title ; to regard the London season as some- 
 thing more than the time of year when the 
 days were getting longer and it would soon 
 be time to think about going to the seaside — 
 comfortable as Mrs Higginbotham's circum- 
 stances were, her life had been singularly 
 devoid of these delights. 
 
 And this was not all. Mrs Higginbotham 
 was romantic. She revelled in a love-story. 
 She adored the Apollo-like heroes of her 
 favourite fiction with an ungrudging wealth 
 of admiration, and she envied hardly less the 
 blushing heroines on whom they lavished 
 the stores of their magnificent affections. 
 Mrs Higginbotham felt that it ought to be 
 the lot of every girl to be a blushing heroine 
 at one time of her life. She felt that she 
 herself had been unjustly deprived of that 
 privilege, although she had, been an attrac- 
 tive girl, and, if she read the expression in 
 Peter Binney's eyes rightly, was attractive 
 still. The late Mr Higginbotham had been 
 a good husband to her, but his actual pro- 
 posal had been of the 'Here I am — Take me 
 if you like — If you don't there are plenty that 
 
20 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 will, and only too glad to get the chance ' order. 
 She had taken him, but he had never satisfied 
 the romantic cravings of her nature. She, on 
 her part, had been a good wife to him, but so 
 far as she was aware he had never, from first 
 to last, regarded her as a heroine, or if he 
 had, he had never shown it. 
 
 Would Peter Binney do more ? Was it too 
 late to hope that a whiff of the fragrant 
 breezes of romance might yet blow upon her ? 
 Mrs Higginbotham scarcely knew. There 
 . was a something in the little man that in- 
 clined her to think that he would not be 
 averse to dally in the Indian summer of a 
 romantic courtship if she made it quite plain 
 to him that that was what she required, and 
 there was a something, in spite of his 
 diminutive stature and the byegone forty- 
 five years of his successful life, in the fire of 
 his eye and in his erect and proud bearing, 
 that whispered to Mrs Higginbotham's 
 heart that she might, by guarding the sensa- 
 tion with extreme care, bring herself to re- 
 gard him as a very good substitute for the 
 youthful adorer, who it was almost too much 
 to hope would come forward at this time of 
 day. 
 
 While these questions passed through 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 21 
 
 her mind, Mrs Higglnbotham went on 
 talking, and Mr Binney, answering her with- 
 out knowing in the least what she was talk- 
 ing about, mentally braced himself up for 
 the proposal he was about to make. At 
 last he broke into the middle of one of 
 Mrs Higginbotham's sentences and said in 
 a firm and resolute voice, ' Mrs Higgln- 
 botham, ma'am.* 
 
 Mrs Higglnbotham saw that the time 
 had come, and gave up the struggle. 
 
 'Yes, Mr Binney?' she said in as cool a 
 tone as she could muster, 
 
 ' I am not so young as I was, ma'am,' said 
 Mr Binney. 
 
 ' We are none of us that,' said Mrs Higgln- 
 botham. 'At least not people at our time 
 of life.' 
 
 ' Vou have no reason to complain, ma'am,' 
 said Mr Binney gallantly. 
 
 ' My heart is young,' said Mrs Higgm- 
 botham, greatly pleased at the compliment, 
 ' and if I am not very much mistaken, yours 
 is also,' 
 
 ' I hope it is,' said Mr Binney, greatly 
 pleased in his turn ; ' and on that account I 
 have a proposal to make to you, ma'am, 
 which I hope you will consider favourably.' 
 
22 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I'm sure I shall do that, whatever it is,' 
 said Mrs Higginbotham comfortably, 
 
 ' I hope so,' said Mr Binney again. ' The 
 fact is, ma'am, that I have long regarded 
 you with feelings of interest, which have in 
 the course of time developed into feelings of 
 affection. I can scarcely hope that those 
 feelings are returned, but I should wish to 
 ask, ma'am, if there is any chance in the 
 near or distant future that they might be.' 
 
 ' Oh, Mr Binney ! ' exclaimed Mrs Higgin- 
 botham with a lively recollection of the 
 heroines of fiction. 'This is so sudden.* 
 
 ' It is, ma'am,' said Mr Binney. ' I am 
 aware of that. This sort of thing must 
 be sudden at some time or another, if it is 
 to result in bus — I mean if anything is to 
 come of it. I don't wish to press you for an 
 answer yet. I merely wish to lay my ideas 
 before you. I might say that I wish to 
 marry again in order to obtain those advan- 
 tages which — er — which come from marrying 
 again. I might say that I want an agree- 
 able companion to sit at the head of my 
 table, to entertain me with her society in my 
 leisure hours, and to act in the capacity of 
 mother to my only son. I do want that, 
 but that is not all. I have worked hard all 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 23 
 
 my life, ma'am, and am now a comparatively 
 rich man. But I have had very little pleasure 
 in my life. I married my first wife to please 
 her. I want to marry my second to please 
 myself. And I want above all to impart into 
 the affair sorne of that — er — glamour, which, 
 in my opinion, should envelop all courtship, 
 I therefore come to you, ma'am, an agreeable 
 and charming woman, and ask you, not to 
 accept me as a man of, good position able to 
 offer you a comfortable home, which I am 
 aware you have already, but as a man who, 
 although no longer young, is younger than a 
 good many people, and who loves you for 
 yourself alone, and would like to take an 
 opportunity of proving it.' 
 
 Could Mrs Higginbotham believe her 
 ears? If Peter Binney had asked her to 
 marry him in the way he had suggested, 
 and scouted, she would have accepted him 
 with a sigh for lost illusions now no longer 
 tenable. But it really seemed as if that 
 romance for which the poor lady had so 
 longed was going to be opened up for her, 
 and an ardent swain, in the person of Peter 
 Binney, Manufacturer of Poultry Food, was 
 ready to throw himself at her feet and plead 
 for her favour. Mrs Higginbotham could 
 
24 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 scarcely yet grasp the happiness that seemed 
 to be dawning on the horizon. 
 
 ' Do you really love me for myself, Mr 
 Binney?' she asked with faltering lips. 
 
 ' Say Peter,' corrected Mr Binney. 
 
 ' Peter,' said Mrs Higginbotham submis- 
 sively, with a delicious thrill. 
 
 ' Yes I do,' said that gentleman. ' But 
 I don't want you to accept me in a hurry, 
 you know,' he added, hastily. ' I want you 
 to try me, to prove me, to see what I'm 
 made of.' He slapped his little breast with 
 a determined air, and looked round the roon) 
 as if in search ,of some object by means of 
 which he mights be proved on the spot. 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham might have replied 
 that she knew him tolerably well already, 
 having met hiti^ with some frequency for 
 the last twenty years. But his attitude 
 caused her such a degree of pleasure that 
 she was by no means prepared to spoil the 
 sensation by reminding him of that fact. At 
 the same time she was a little nervous and 
 flurried. She had all the will in the world 
 to prove him, but she didn't quite know 
 how to set about it. If there had been a 
 crusade handy she might have sent him off 
 to that, but she could think of no nineteenth 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 25 
 
 century substitute on the spur of the moment. 
 Mr Binney had been a Volunteer in his 
 youth, as he had often told her, but he was 
 one no longer, so she could not set him 
 to watch his accoutrements all night in 
 a church. Besides, Mr Binney went to 
 chapel, and the minister wouldn't have liked 
 it. She didn't really quite know what he 
 did want, but fortunately Mr Binney himself 
 came to the rescue and made himself a little 
 clearer. 
 
 ' Now, Mrs Higginbotham,' he began. 
 'By-the-bye, may I call you Martha?' 
 
 'Yes, do,' said Mrs Higginbotham.' 
 
 ' Now, my dear Martha,' began Mr Binney 
 again, 'what you have got to do is to tell 
 me what in your opinion the behaviour of 
 an ideal lover should be, and what / have 
 got to do is to endeavour to the best of 
 my ability to act up to your opinion.' 
 
 'Well, Peter,' began Mrs Higginbotham, 
 • I must confess that I have always wished 
 that I had had in my youth a devoted lover 
 who should be something of a hero.' 
 
 ' Quite so, quite so,' assented Mr Binney 
 with an energetic nod. ' I shall do my best 
 to be that, my very best.' 
 
 'One,' continued Mrs Higginbotham, 
 
26 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 'whom I could admire for — er — manliness 
 and^-er — lightheartedness, and — er — beauty, 
 both of form and feature.* 
 
 ' Exactly so,' nodded her wooer. 
 .'One who would regard me as the most 
 beautiful — er^ — female in the world ; not that 
 I should be that, of course, but I should like 
 him to think so.' 
 
 ' Of course, of course,' said Mr Binney. 
 'Quite natural.' 
 
 ' And who would try to make little oppor- 
 tunities of meeting me, arid being where 
 I was.' 
 
 ' Exactly,' said Mr Binney, who had been 
 admitted into Mrs Higginbotham's hojuse 
 any time these last twenty years whenever 
 he liked to present himself. 
 
 'Whose heart would beat quicker when 
 "he did see me, and who would be quite 
 rewarded for any trouble he might have 
 taken over the matter by seeing me.' 
 
 ' I quite see, ma'am, I quite see,' said Mr 
 Binney. 'The truth of it is, you want to 
 renew your youth, I take it. Not that it 
 requires much renewing,' he added gallantly. 
 
 'Oh, Peter!' exclaimed Mrs Higgin- 
 botham coyly. 
 
 'And I want to renew «?jj/ youth, Martha,' 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 27 
 
 continued Mr Binney with some fervour. 
 ' I've worked very hard ever since I was a 
 boy, as you know, and I never had the fun 
 that I should like to have had, or that the 
 young fellows I see about me now have — 
 my son, for instance.' 
 
 ' Dear boy,' murmured Mrs Higgin- 
 botham. 
 
 ' Dear boy, certainly,' acquiesced Mr 
 Binney, ' and lucky boy, too, Martha. Look 
 what I've done for that boy. I've sent him 
 to Eton, where / never had a chance of 
 going, or anywhere like it. Why, Martha, 
 life is one continuous round of pleasure at 
 Eton. And now he is going to Cambridge. 
 There's a place for you ! Why, I assure 
 you, you could hardly believe [the fun 
 that young fellows have at a place like 
 Cambridge.' 
 
 ' Yes, I can. I've read books about it,' said 
 Mrs Higginbotham, 'and I had a nephew 
 there once who used to tell me things. 
 Ah, Mr Binney, if I were only what I used 
 to be twenty years ago, and you were at 
 Cambridge ! ' 
 
 ' Pooh, Martha,' said Mr Binney. ' You 
 weren't half so attractive as you are now, 
 I'll be bound. And as for me, though I am 
 
28 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 forty-five, I'm as active as ever and could 
 hold up my head with the best of them.' 
 
 ' I know you could, Peter,' said Mrs 
 Higginbotham. 
 
 ' Now, Martha, I've got something in my 
 mind,' said Mr Binney. 'It's been there 
 for some time, but I haven't liked to mention 
 it to you because I was afraid — well, I didn't 
 know how ^you might take it. But really, 
 you've taken what I have said in such a way 
 as — as to be extremely gratifying to me, and 
 upon my word I don't believe you'll think 
 my idea so very absurd after all' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham looked at him with 
 deep interest depicted in her face. 
 
 Mr Binney squared himself and sat up in 
 his chair. * Lucius is going to Cambridge 
 in October,' he said. ' Now what do you say 
 to my going with him ? ' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham 's look of interest 
 gradually brightened into one of delighted 
 agreement. ' Oh, Peter,' she said, ' if you 
 only could ! Isn't it too late ? * 
 
 ' Not a bit,' said Mr Binney. ' There's no 
 limit of age. I found that out long ago. I 
 could go up there and be treated in all 
 respects as if I ~ was five-and-twenty years 
 younger than I am. And do you know, 
 
MR BINNEY MAKES UP HIS MIND 29 
 
 Martha,' added the little man confidentially, 
 ' such is my freshness of mind that I believe 
 in time I should come to believe that I was 
 five-and-twenty years younger.' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham looked at him in 
 speechless admiration. ' It would be lovely,' 
 she said. ' What an interest I should take 
 in your doings, Peter ! ' 
 
 This speech was as a spark to the tinder 
 of Mr Binney's inclinations. ' If you think 
 about it like that, Martha, I'll do it,' he cried 
 delightedly. 'And now I must be getting 
 home. I'll have a talk to Lucius about it 
 to-night, and come and tell you what I have 
 decided to-morrow.' 
 
 Mr Binney took a tender farewell of Mrs 
 Higginbotham,. and left her to spend the 
 evening in roseate dreams of returning youth 
 and a wider horizon than that visible from 
 her windows in Woburn Square. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 MR BINNEY INTERVIEWS ONE TUTOR, AND 
 ENGAGES ANOTHER 
 
 i 
 
 Mr Binney and his son sat over their wine 
 that evening in the seclusion of the dining- 
 room in Rtissell Square. Mr Binney had 
 been somewhat silent during dinner, think- 
 ing over the disclosure he was about to 
 make. Somehow, now that it came to the 
 point, he felt a certain diffidence in mention- 
 ing it. Lucius also had something to say, 
 but waited until the servants were out of 
 the room. 
 
 ' I say, father,' he said, when they were 
 left alone, ' I've ordered a new- pair of 
 patent leather boots from Peal's, and asked 
 them to send the bill in to you.' 
 
 Mr Binney, immersed in his thoughts, had 
 forgotten the occurrence of the afternoon, or 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 31 
 
 he would not have rushed with such haste to 
 his own destruction. 'Bill into me, Lucius ? ' 
 he exclaimed angrily. ' What do you mean ? 
 You've got your own allowance, and a very 
 handsome one it is. I'm not going to pay 
 your bills for you besides. If it comes into 
 me I shall tear it up.' 
 
 'You've got your own boots,' retorted 
 Lucius, "and very handsome ones they are. 
 If you take a fancy to mine I don't mind 
 you wearing them a bit, only I haven't got 
 enough for us both, so I thought you 
 wouldn't mind my getting another pair, as I 
 can't do without.' 
 
 'H'm! Ah! yes!' said Mr Binney, a 
 trifle confused. ' No, I don't mind really, 
 my boy, though I don't think there are 
 many fathers who would take it like that.' 
 
 'There aren't many fathers who would 
 take their sons' boots,' said Lucius. ' By 
 the way, father, talking about allowances, 
 what allowance are you going to make me 
 at Cambridge ? ' 
 
 ' Ah, Cambridge ! ' echoed Mr Binney, as 
 if that ancient seat of learning had just been 
 brought to his notice for the first time. ' Yes, 
 we must talk about Cambridge.' 
 
 ' I should like to have it settled before I 
 
32 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 go back to Eton for my last half, if you don't 
 mind,' said Lucius. ' A lot of my friends 
 are going up, and we shall be sure to be 
 talking over it a good deal I should like to 
 know what I shall be able to do and what I 
 shan't.* 
 
 'You ought to think yourself very lucky 
 to be going to Cambridge at all,' said Mr 
 Binney with a shake of the head. ' I never 
 had the chance of going to Cambridge when 
 I was a young fellow.' 
 
 'Oh, I daresay it's a jolly enough place,' said 
 Lucius, • although I shall be sorry to leave 
 Eton. Still it isn't all fun, you know, father. 
 There'^ a certain amount of work to be 
 done.' 
 
 'Work! df course there is,' said Mr 
 Binney. ' But what work ! Think of being 
 able to carry on your education till you're 
 twenty- two or thereabouts. It's a grand 
 thing, education. I never had any myself, 
 at least not what you would call education, 
 although. I flatter myself I know as much as 
 most people.' 
 
 'Oh, yes, father,' said Lucius. 'Why, 
 bless me, you've edited the text of Shake- 
 speare.' 
 
 • H'm, yes,' said Mr Binney, on whom a 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR SS 
 
 certain amount of adverse comment had bred 
 a measure of distrust in this feat. He took 
 a gulp of port. ' We've always been friends, 
 my boy, you and I, haven't we ? ' he con- 
 tinued rather nervously, 
 
 * Friends, father ? ' said Lucius. ' Why, 
 of course. I should think so.' 
 
 ♦ You might, perhaps, almost say that we 
 are more like brothers than father and son,' 
 pursued Mr Binney. 
 
 ' I don't know that I should go quite so 
 far as that,' said Lucius. ' But we always 
 get on very well together, don't we ? ' 
 
 'Yes, that is what I meant,' said Mr 
 Binney. ' Now I've got an idea, which may 
 be a little unusual.' (' Not at all,' mur- 
 mured Lucius politely.) ' But I hope you'll 
 fall in with it. At least when I say, I hope, 
 it doesn't matter a fig whether you do or not. 
 I'm not going to be dictated to by my son, 
 though he Aas been to a public school and I 
 haven't. Who sent him there ? ' 
 
 'Why, you did, of course, father,' said 
 Lucius. ' I don't want to dictate to you. 
 What is your idea ? That I shall go into 
 the business when I come down .from Cam- 
 bridge ? ' 
 
 ' That you'll do, of course,' said Mr Binney. 
 
 c 
 
84 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I hope you know on which side your 
 bread's buttered, and who buttered* it for 
 you. No, my idea is about myself. I have 
 worked very hard until now, but I haven't 
 had the time for self-improvement that I 
 should have liked. Now, what I propose to 
 do is- to take three years holiday off busi- 
 ness and go up to Cambridge with you in 
 October. What do you think of that ? ' 
 
 What Lucius thought of it might have 
 been accurately gath^-ed from the length of 
 his face. All power of speech seemed to 
 have left him. He could only sit with open 
 mouth staring at his father, and this de- 
 meanour instantly set up the comb of that 
 peppery little bantam. 
 
 'Well, well, what have you got to say? 
 Why don't you speak ? ' he cried, with some 
 heat. 
 
 Suddenly Lucius lay back in his chair, 
 and gave vent to a loud, but entirely mirth- 
 less, peal of laughter. ' That's a good joke, 
 father,' he said. ' Gad ! you are a ripper. 
 Won't the fellows laugh when I tell 
 em.' 
 
 This behaviour seemed to have a very ill 
 effect on the circulation of Mr Binney's 
 blood, which flew into his head to such an 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR S5 
 
 extent, that his face got as red as a 
 tomato. 
 
 ' What do you mean, sir ? ' he cried 
 angrily. ' It isn't a joke at all. Why 
 should the fellows laugh, I should like to 
 know! I tell you what it is, sir, you're 
 ashamed of your father, you ungffkteful 
 young snob. Where would you have been, 
 I should like to know, if I hadn't made my 
 fortune and sacrificed myself to give you a 
 good education ? — sweeping- a shop, I dare 
 say, or a clerk on ten shillings a week. 
 That's what you would have been, my fine 
 fellow, and a good deal too good for you, 
 too, you idle young — ' 
 
 'Steady on, father,' interposed Lucius, 
 now quite serious again. ' I'm not ashamed 
 of you, you know that quite well — there's 
 nothing to be ashamed of — but I didn't 
 think you could mean it, really. You can'i 
 mean it, you know, why it's ridic — ^it's out of 
 the question.' 
 
 ' WAy is it out of the question, sir ? ' asked 
 Mr Binney. * WAy is it out of the ques- 
 tion ? ' 
 
 ' Well,' said Lucius, ' look what a precious 
 pair of fools we shall look.' 
 
 ' Vou may, sir,' said Mr Binney. ' I dare 
 
S6 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 say you will. I can't help your looking 
 anything you please. But I flatter myself 
 there's nothing particularly foolish looking 
 about me, is there ? Is there, I say ? ' 
 
 'Oh, no, nothing at all,' Lucius made 
 haste to reply> 'but I should think there 
 would be if you went up to Cambridge as an 
 undergraduate — something precious foolish. 
 I suppose you mean to take a house there, 
 though, or something, and enter at some 
 small college where they won't worry you ' 
 
 ' I intend to do nothing of the sort, sir,' 
 said Mr Binney. * I shall enter myself at 
 Trinity. It is, I believe, the best college at 
 Cambridge, You chose it yourself. And I 
 have no intention of taking a house. I shall 
 live in the college, and comport myself in the 
 same way as the steady young men with 
 whom I, and you, too, I hope, expect to 
 associate.' 
 
 'Oh, Lord!' groaned Lucius. 'Are we 
 to go about together as steady young men ? 
 Well, you can't get into Trinity, you know^ 
 that's one comfort. The entrance examina- 
 tion is over and you couldn't pass it if it 
 wasn't,' 
 
 'Couldn't pass it, sir! You little know 
 either your father's ability or determination. 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 37 
 
 And Jt is . not over. There is another in 
 October, for which I shall present myself.' 
 
 ' You'll have your work cut out for you to 
 get ready for it. I suppose you'll go to 
 school for a term. I should go to Johnson'^ 
 at Margate if I were you, where you sent 
 me — you see you're just over age for a 
 public school — they'll take you as a parlour- 
 boarder, and I should think you might get 
 the good-conduct prize if you're careful.' 
 
 'That's right, sir,' said Peter bitterly. 
 ' Pour scorn on your own father, who has 
 given you all the advantages you ever had. 
 Of course, you're a gentleman. You've 
 been to Eton and you're going to Trinity. 
 Yet you grudge me having my little bit of 
 education, though I pay for both.' 
 
 ' Oh, blow the education, father. Why 
 don't you stew up fo? London University, 
 and live comfortably at home ? ' 
 
 ' Because I choose to " stew up " for 
 Cambridge University, sir, and let that be 
 an end of the matter. You'll find there will 
 only be one of us there if you're not precious 
 careful, and it won't be you.' 
 
 Poor Lucius went to bed that night with a 
 heavy heart. He had rowed for one year in 
 the Eton eight, and wore with great satisfac- 
 
38 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE ' 
 
 tion a flannel coat of light blue. He had 
 hitherto looked forward with pleasure to his 
 career at Cambridge, with the hope of wear- 
 ing another light blue coat of a slightly 
 different cut and shade of colour in the 
 course of it. Now a dark cloud had arisen 
 to obscure the happy azure of his mental 
 horizon. 
 
 ' If he's going to be such a fool as to go 
 up,' he said to himself as he undressed, ' I'm 
 hanged if / will. I'll go to Oxford instead, 
 although all the chaps I know best are going 
 to the other shop, and I shan't like it half as 
 well' 
 
 He broached this proposition to his father 
 the next morning at breakfast, hoping all the 
 time that he had given up his intention. 
 But Mr Binney was more than ever con- 
 firmed in it, having spent a happy night iri 
 dreams of glorious youthful feats to be laid at 
 the feet of the fair Mrs Higginbotham ; and 
 Lucius's idea was received so badly that he 
 relinquished it at once, and made up his mind 
 ruefully that he should either have to go to 
 Cambridge with his father as his close com- 
 panion, or not go at all. He went back 
 to Eton the next day with all his pleasure iii 
 the coming half spoilt by the dark fate that 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 39 
 
 was hanging over him, his only consolation 
 being the recollection of the difficulty of the 
 Trinity entrance examination, which it had 
 taken him all his time to get through, 
 although his work for the last ten years 
 had led directly up to it. 
 
 ' Of course he can't do the work by 
 October,' he said to himself. ' He don't 
 know a word of Greek and only about three 
 of Latin.' 
 
 And this consolation had to suffice him, 
 for he knew his father well enough to 
 realise that if he had made up his mind to 
 do this thing, and it was in him to do it, 
 do it he would. Moreover, on the day he had 
 left Russell Square for Eton he had seen a 
 letter on the hall-table addressed in his 
 father's handwriting to the tutor on whose 
 side he himself was entered at Trinity, and 
 blushed to think of what it contained. 
 
 Lucius's tutor, who was the most popular 
 in the college, wrote to say that his own side 
 was full, but that his colleague, Mr Riming- 
 ton, still had a few vacancies. So Peter 
 wrote to Mr Rimington and received a 
 reply requesting him to go up to Cambridge 
 for a personal interview. 
 
 Peter travelled to Cambridge the same 
 
40 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 evening and put up at the ' Bull.' After 
 dinner he went out to make his first acquaint- 
 ance with a University town. It was a lovely 
 April evening. • The deep violet of the 
 twilight sky revealed the irregular roofs 
 and towers of the old buildings. -There 
 was a half foreign air about the clean paved 
 streets with the open rivulet's running along 
 the pavements. Peter walked up King's 
 Parade and viewed with awe the pile of the 
 famous chapel of King's, past the University 
 Library and the Senate House, and the 
 modern pretentious fagade of Caius College, 
 conceived and executed in the best Insurance 
 office style of architecture, and into the 
 narrow, noisy little Trinity Street. The 
 streets were full of men in caps and gowns, 
 and a few still in flannels and straw hats. 
 Mr Binney wondered how these latter could 
 walk along so unconcernedly when they 
 might at any corner run straight into the 
 arms of a perambulating Proctor. He was 
 so imbued with the idea of himself as a budd- 
 ing undergraduate that he half expected to 
 be taken for one, and felt quite nervous 
 when he did meet a Proctor a little later on, 
 lest he should be asked ' for his name and 
 college. He was a little disappointed when 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 41 
 
 that functionary passed him without com- 
 ment, but so reverential were his feelings 
 towards one who held such high office in 
 the University that he could not refrain 
 from taking off his hat to him, a salute 
 which the Proctor gravely returned, much to 
 Mr Binney's gratification. He would per- 
 haps have been less gratified if he had known 
 that the great man, who was not accustomed 
 to receiving respectful greetings from middle- 
 aged gentlemen, took him for a subservient 
 tradesman whose face he happened to have 
 forgotten. 
 
 When Mr Binney turned into the open 
 space in front of Trinity College and passed "^ 
 through the noble gateway into the Great 
 Court, his heart swelled with pride as he 
 stood and looked round him. The twilight 
 had deepened into night, and the court 
 lay quiet and spacious "under the stars. 
 Opposite to him stood the hall, its painted 
 windows shining brightly through the 
 dusk. To its right lay the Master's lodge, 
 which Mr Binney had been told was also a 
 royal palace, and in front of it plashed the 
 fountain underneath its graceful canopy 
 of stone. To his right was the dark mass of 
 the closed chapel, and all round the court 
 
42 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Stretched the long, low buildings with their 
 lighted windows and busy staircases, their 
 modest regularity broken up by the three 
 gate towers, the hall, the lodge, and the 
 chapel A little group of chatty dons came 
 towards him from the combination room, 
 across the sacred grass, one of them in all 
 the bravery of a scarlet gown, and passed 
 out through the gate. A porter touched 
 his hat to them and Mr Binney felt that he 
 could have done the same with pleasure. 
 Towards the undergraduates who went to and 
 fro in the court, along the flagged pathways 
 his feelings were less reverential, but more 
 curious, for he hoped some day to be one of 
 them. What a proud thing it would be to 
 walk on these very stones in a square cap and 
 a blue gown and feel that one had a share in 
 all the ancient surrounding glories. 
 
 He walked slowly across the court, and 
 up the steps of the hall. He stopped to 
 read the college notices in the glass-covered 
 cases which hang in. the passage between 
 the kitchen and buttery hatches on the one 
 side, and the carved screen which gives 
 access to the hall itself, through heavy swing 
 doors, on the other. A crowd of waiters in 
 their shirt-sleeves were busy between the 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 43 
 
 two clearing away the remains of the 
 feast. Mr Binney looked into the hall 
 which was now neairly ready to be shut 
 up for thj2 night. The massive boards 
 and benches of polished oak ran up to the 
 dais in which were the two long tables where 
 the dons sit at their dinner long after the 
 undergraduates have finished and left them 
 to their grandeur. The pictures of bygone 
 worthies whom their college delights to 
 honour looked down on him solemnly from 
 the walls. Behind ' him was the beautiful 
 screen with the gallery above, from which 
 the panels are removed on state occasions, 
 when a bright array of fair visitors looks 
 down on the 'animals feeding.' The lights 
 were going out now, and the high-pitched 
 roof with its many rafters was fading into 
 dimness. Mr Binney turned with a sigh 
 and went out, while a servant locked the 
 door and left the great hall to its solitude, 
 with the moonlight streaming in through the 
 painted windows and the wakeful eyes of 
 the departed worthies watching through 
 the night. 
 
 The next morping Mr Binney called on 
 Mr Rimington. He had to sit for a quarter 
 of an hour in the Tutor's ante-room, where 
 
44 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 half-a-dozen undergraduates were awaiting 
 their turn for admittance, looking over the 
 bound volumes of Punch, which were laid on 
 the table for their amusement. _ Two of 
 them were talking and Mr Binney listened 
 with open ears to their conversation which 
 was • shoppy ' in the extreme, and all the 
 more interesting to him on that account. 
 His appearance Ceiused no surprise, for 
 fathers do sometimes visit their son's Tutors, 
 but Mr Binney thought that every one 
 present would know what he had come 
 for, and felt a little shy* 
 
 He was shown presently into the inner 
 room, a handsome one with a beautiful 
 ceiling, and was received very kindly by 
 Mr Rimington, who, however, seemed a 
 little nervous. 
 
 ' I don't know, Mr Binney,* he said 
 with some hesitation, 'whether I quite 
 understood your letter.' (Here he took. Mr 
 Binney's application from an orderly little 
 pile on his desk). ' It seemed to mean that 
 you wished to enter yourself as an under- 
 graduate of the college.' 
 
 Mr Binney sat on a chair before the 
 Tutor fumbling his hat between his knees. 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 45 
 
 • Certainly, sir,' he said, ' that is what I 
 meant.' 
 
 ' There is an undergraduate of your name 
 already entered, I believe, on Mr Segrave's 
 side?' 
 
 ' Yes, my boy Lucius, He passed the 
 certificate examination last month.' 
 
 ' Quite so. We are very glad to have 
 him here. We hope he may row in the 
 boat and help us to beat Oxford.' 
 
 Mr Binney was surprised to find a don 
 taking an interest in such a frivolous affair 
 as a boat-race, but it put him a little more 
 at his ease. 
 
 * There is nothing to prevent a man of 
 my age entering at the University, I sup- 
 pose?' he inquired. 
 
 'No,' said Mr Rimington with some 
 hesitation, 'not from our point of view. 
 But have you thought what it means, Mr 
 Binney? It is a little — er — unusual for 
 father and son to be undergraduate members 
 of the same college at the same time. Our 
 rules are not at all irksome for a young 
 man — in fact, some people think we allow 
 too much freedom, although we fir^d that 
 we get on better by not drawing the rein so . 
 tight as they do at some other colleges — ^but 
 
4>6 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 such as they are we could not relax them, 
 and in your case they might very well 
 prove to be irksome.' 
 
 ' Not at all,' said Mr Binney, ' not at 
 all. I am prepared to take the rough 
 with the smooth, . and I can keep rules, if 
 they are sensible rules, as well as the 
 young fellows.' 
 
 Mr Rimington laughed nervously. ' May 
 I ask your reason for wanting to come up 
 to Cambridge so — so late in life?' he 
 asked. 
 
 ' I have a passion for education, sir,' 
 said Mr Binney. 'I left school at the age 
 of fourteen, and have worked hard at my 
 business ever since. But money-making 
 isn't the sole interest in life — besides I have 
 got as much money as I want. I wish to 
 regain some of the lost opportunities of 
 youth.' 
 
 ' Have you kept up your classical studies 
 at all since you left school ? ' asked the 
 Tutor. 
 
 ' I never learnt any classics, sir,' an- 
 swered Mr Binney airily, 'that has all to 
 come. They didn't consider that Latin 
 and Greek prepared us for the business 
 of life when I was a boy.* 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 47 
 
 ' Oh ! then I am afraid it is not of the 
 slightest use your attempting to enter for 
 our examination,' said the Tutor, with a 
 visible shade of relief overspreading his 
 face, 'it would take you years to come 
 up to the standard we require.' 
 
 * That is my affair, sir,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' I shall not only attempt it, I shall succeed. 
 I have ability and determination.' 
 
 Mr Rimington looked annoyed. ' I think 
 you will find you are mistaken,' he said. 
 ' However, as you say, that is your affair 
 and not mine. But, apart from that, I 
 am not sure, Mr Binney— ^ I speak quite 
 openly — that it is the kindest course you 
 could take, as far as your son is concerned, 
 to enter at the same college. He comes 
 to us with a .very good character, and we 
 hope he will do us credit. • But it is likely 
 to go against him — I mean it will hardly be 
 giving him a fair chance with the other 
 men of the college to be constantly under 
 your supervision. A University education, 
 you know, Mr Binney, is a valuable train- 
 ing for a young man, because he begins 
 to learn to stand alone, while he is not 
 left entirely alone. Your son would lose 
 that advantage, whatever else he might 
 
48 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 gain, if you were to be constantly with 
 him.' 
 
 Mr Binney straightened himself up. Mr 
 Rimington's opposition roused his fighting 
 business instincts, which prompted him to 
 take every opportunity of gaining an ad- 
 vantage, ' That again is a matter for me 
 to decide, sir,' he said. ' Lucius and I 
 are very good friends and understand one 
 another thoroughly. I have given him 
 advantages of education that I never had, 
 but when I put my foot down he has to 
 obey. He knows that by this time. We 
 will leave him out of the question, if you 
 please.' 
 
 Mr Rimington again looked annoyed. 
 
 ' If you are determined to come up for 
 entrance to this college,' he said, 'and suc- 
 ceed in passing the necessary test, which, I 
 warn you, will be a harder matter than you 
 imagine, you would find yourself compelled 
 to associate with men of very immature 
 views, Mr Binney.' 
 
 * I am not afraid of that,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' In fact I shall enjoy it. I have preserved 
 my youth and can take the young fellows 
 on their own ground and beat 'em.' 
 
 Mr Rimington passed his hand over his 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 49 
 
 mouth. ' Then I had better give you the 
 necessary papers,' he said. ' You must send 
 us a certificate of good conduct, signed by a 
 clergyman who has known you for three 
 years.' 
 
 ' My pastor, the celebrated Dr Toller, 
 under whose ministrations I have sat for the 
 last twenty years would do, I suppose,' said 
 Mr Binney. ' I am a Baptist.' 
 
 'Yes, certainly,' said the Tutor. 'Then 
 there is the certificate of birth. And this 
 paper will tell you all about the subjects for 
 examination. I should advise you to engage 
 a private coach. You are too late, of course, 
 for the first examination, but — ' 
 
 ' There is another in October,' interrupted 
 Mr Binney. ' I know. I shall present 
 myself for that.' 
 
 ' Then I will wish you good morning, Mr 
 Binney,' said the Tutor. 'You will excuse 
 me, but I have a good many pupils to see.' 
 Mr Rimington summoned up his usual 
 amiable smile and took leave of Mr Binney 
 with a warm grasp of the hand; and Mr 
 Binney went out throiigh the ante-room, 
 where the waiting crowd had swelled to un- 
 usual proportions and clattered dowh the oak 
 
50 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Staircase into the court, hugging his precious 
 sheaf of papers. 
 
 In the Combination Room, that evening, 
 Mr Rimington and Mr Segrave discussed 
 Mr Binney over their wine. 
 
 ' I did my best to dissuade him,' said Mr 
 Rimington. ' It is very hard lines on the 
 boy.' 
 
 ' He is a nice boy,' said the other. ' War- 
 grave — ' this was Lucius's house-master at 
 Eton — * says he is one of the best boys he 
 has in his house ; not at all brilliant, but of 
 excellent character and a first-rate oar — just 
 the sort of freshman we want, as we can't 
 expect them all to be scholars. I'm afraid it 
 will spoil his life here if his father insists 
 upon inflicting himself on us. What sort of 
 a man is he ? ' 
 
 Mr Rimington laughed. He would have 
 liked to say, 'Just a cocky little tradesman,' 
 but he was a charitable man. ' If I were the 
 boy,' he said, ' I would rather have him in 
 London than at Cambridge. But I don't 
 think we shall see him at Cambridge. He 
 left school thirty years ago and has never 
 learnt either Latin or Greek, or indeed 
 anything that we want, excepting, perhaps, 
 arithmetic, and we don't want much of 
 
MR BINNEY ENGAGES A TUTOR 51 
 
 that. Yet he expects us to admit him in 
 October.' 
 
 * Oh, well then, we may set our minds at 
 rest,' said Mr Segrave. ' But it's a curious 
 idea altogether.' 
 
 Mr Binney had got back to Russell Square 
 by that time ard was just .then engaged in 
 writing out an advertisement for a resident 
 tutor. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 LUCIUS WINS A year's RESPITE 
 
 A WEEK after Mr Binney's visit to Cam- 
 bridge, he wrote the following letter to his 
 son: — 
 
 ' My dear Lucius, — Yours of 29th ult. to 
 hand. I note you are getting on with your 
 work and enjoying yourself. I have now 
 relinquished my attendance at the office, and 
 have left the management in Mr Walton's 
 hands, merely dropping in for an hour or 
 two once a week to see how things are 
 going. As far as I can see he will carry on 
 the business well during my three years' 
 absence, and at the end of that time I shall 
 take the reins again and you will begin work 
 there. If all goes well I shall take you into 
 partnership a year after that, by which time 
 you ought to have fully mastered the 
 details. 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 5S 
 
 ' Re work for Trinity Entrance Examination . 
 
 ' I have started on above, having engaged 
 a private coach. I had 430 answers to my 
 application. My choice, fell on a gentleman 
 named MinshuU, a Peterhouse man who 
 dwells in the vicinity. He took his degree 
 only last year and expects to enter the 
 church shortly. He comes every morning 
 at nine o'clock and we work till one. He 
 lunches with me, after which we take a walk 
 in the Park or elsewhere, returning for tea 
 and another two hours' work. Then Min- 
 shuU leaves me, and after a light dinner I do 
 prepairation for him for another two hours 
 and then to bed. On Saturday we knock 
 off at one, and I generally take an outing 
 with Mrs Higginbotham, who wishes to be 
 kindly remembered to you. She takes a 
 great interest in my enterprise, and refreshes 
 her memory and mine during our little jaunts 
 by getting me to repeat to her without book 
 such things as I have learnt during the week 
 as come within the limits of the curriculum to 
 which she applied herself during girlhood. 
 The subjects themselves are hardly such as in 
 my judgment repay the amount of study 
 necessary to master them. What with the 
 
54 PETER BINNEV, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 growing competition in commercial life, 
 and the gfreat influx of foreigners — Germans 
 and others, it seems to me waste of time to 
 devote three valuable years of a young 
 man's life in getting up the opinions of a man 
 like Plato, who lived so many years ago 
 that his ideas are by no means up-to-date. 
 Or take a poet like Virgil again-^if Virgil 
 can be justly called a poet. Compare his 
 thoughts with those of our own immortal 
 Shakespeare — the Swan of Avon — or even 
 with Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome, if 
 you must have matters of ancient history 
 treated in poetry. And what is the use of 
 puzzling over the Acts of the' Apostles in 
 the Original Greek, when that book, as well 
 as the rest of the New Testament, has 
 been so admirably translated in the Revised 
 Version? What the authorities of our 
 Universities entirely fail to grasp is that 
 Latin and Greek are not spoken nowadays. 
 How much better young men would be 
 fitted for the business of life if they were 
 trained to speak and write French and 
 German fluently. This is so obvious to a 
 man of experience that I seriously thought 
 of writing to the Chancellor of the University, 
 the Duke of Devonshire, and laying my 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 55 
 
 views before him, but Minshull dissuaded 
 me, saying that I should be in a better posi- 
 tion to bring to bear any influence I might 
 possess after I have taken my degree, which 
 is perfectly true. But the truth of it is 
 there are too many old women at the head 
 of the Universities. What you want are 
 keen-headed men, men of experience in the 
 world, who would move with the times, and 
 get Oxford and Cambridge to move with 
 them. I am so convinced I am right in 
 this opinion, that if it were not for the cares 
 of business, to which I must return when I 
 have finished with Cambridge, I should 
 apply for a Trinity fellowship after I have 
 taken my degree, and try to infuse a little 
 spirit into the counsels of the college and 
 through it into the University. 
 
 * I must now draw to a close and return to 
 my studies. I feel that they are beneath 
 my powers, but at the same time I must not 
 grumble at having to begin at the bottom 
 rung of the ladder. " Thorough " has always 
 been my motto and will continue so. No 
 more at present, from your affectionate 
 father, — Peter Binney.' 
 
 Mr Binney's letters as the time went on 
 
56 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 became more and more sprightly in tone. 
 With the cares of business he seemed to 
 have finally laid aside all the interests 
 commonly felt by gentlemen who have 
 reached middle age. He relapsed into 
 slang. MinshuU, he said, was a 'jolly 
 good sort,' only you had to work. It 
 was no good trying to 'kid him.' The 
 subjects for examination he now found 
 'beastly stiff,' and it was an 'awful sap' 
 getting them up, but he quite expected to 
 have 'bowled them over' by the time the 
 examination was due. He mentioned Mrs 
 Higginbotham once or twice as one on whose 
 approval of the course he was pursuing he 
 greatly relied. 
 
 'Confound that old woman,' said Lucius 
 when he read this. ' She's backing him up 
 in all this nonsense. She's a sentimental 
 old donkey. Well, he can't do it in time, 
 that's one comfort ; ' and Lucius would 
 encourage himself by dwelling on this con- 
 viction and then tear up his father's letters. 
 
 He came up to town for two nights about 
 the end of June on his long leave. Mr 
 Binney, of course, was full of his work. 
 He wished to be treated just like any other 
 youth with the ordeal of an examination 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 57 
 
 before him, and itched to talk over his 
 chances. But Lucius retired into his shell 
 whenever Cambridge was mentioned. Mr 
 Binney, of course, noticed this and began 
 to get his back up about it. At last he 
 tackled his son in the most effectual way 
 as they sat together in the library at Russell 
 Square after dinner. 
 
 'Look here, young man,' he said, 'you 
 may as well get used to this idea. You and 
 I are going up to Trinity together, and I 
 want to do the thing fairly and squarely. 
 I shall put us both on an allowance, and 
 at present I intend to make them equal. 
 But if you're going to be sulky about it, 
 they won't be equal, or anything like it. 
 So put that in your pipe and smoke it.' 
 
 'What allowance?' inquired Lucius with 
 some interest. His father had always 
 refused to come to the point when he had 
 asked him the same question before. 
 
 'Well, I thought of ;^300 a year,' said 
 Mr Binney. ' MinshuU did it on ;^2oo, and 
 did it very well, but, as he says, Trinity is 
 the college where all the swells go, and if 
 you want to live up to 'em you might have 
 to spend a bit more. As I say, I want to 
 do the thing well.' 
 
58 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I don't suppose MinshuU knows much 
 about it,' said Lucius. ' Most of the cha^s 
 I know are going to have about four 
 hundred, and hardly any of them less than 
 three. You have to be jolly careful on 
 three hundred a year at Trinity.' 
 
 'Ah, well,' said Mr Binney, 'I won't 
 let a hundred a year, or even two, stand 
 in the way, and we'll share alike if you're 
 sensible about it. But I'm not- going to 
 pay you four hundred a year to look down 
 on your father, so you had better make 
 up your mind how you're going to behave 
 before October comes.' 
 
 Lucius sat silent with a gloomy counten- 
 ance and his hands in his pockets. When 
 he was at school the idea of his father 
 accompanying him to Cambridge as a fresh- 
 man, seemed so absurd, that he was some- 
 times surprised to find that he was enjoy- 
 ing life much as usual, without being very 
 much burdened by it. When he was at 
 home and realised how very much in 
 earnest Mr Binney was, the dark fate that 
 hung over him became less remote, and 
 filled him with gloomy forebodings. But 
 youth is elastici It seemed almost out of 
 the question that Mr Binney would succeed 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 59 
 
 in passing the entrance examination, while 
 Lucius hittiself was already admitted a 
 member of Trinity College. The allow- 
 ance his father had named seemed to him 
 quite adequate, and he allowed himself to 
 cheer up a little and inquire after the health 
 of Mrs Higginbotham. 
 
 Mr Binney coughed in some little em- 
 barrassment. 
 
 ' Mrs Higginbotham has a bad cold,' he 
 said, • and is confined to the house. I hope 
 she will be well enough to accompany me 
 to Lord's for the Eton and Harrow match, 
 if the state of her bronchial tubes, which 
 are giving her a lot of trouble just now, 
 permit of it. You will be able to introduce 
 us to some of your friends and future 
 companions at Cambridge.' 
 
 ' I'm very sorry,' said Lucius, ' but I 
 shan't be there. Henley comes in the same 
 week.' 
 
 ' I shall be at Henley as well,' said Mr 
 Binney, 'and Mrs Higginbotham has kindly 
 consented to accompany me. She takes a 
 great interest in your rowing career, Lucius, 
 as she does in every other manly sport. 
 Ah ! I hope the day may come when I 
 myself — but we mustn't count out chickens 
 
60 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 before they are hatched, must we? With 
 regard to Henley, you will be able to go 
 about with us, I suppose, and see that — ' 
 
 'Very sorry, father,' interrupted Lucius 
 hastily, ' I shall be rowing nearly all ' day 
 long. We're in for the Grand and the 
 Ladies' Plate. Besides, the captain of the 
 boats is a terrible fellow. If he caught one 
 of us so much as speaking to a lady he'd 
 cut up very rough.' 
 
 • Why is that, pray ? ' inquired Mr Binney. 
 
 ' Oh, I don't know. They might offer 
 us an ice or something. We have to be 
 awfully strict, you know, over training. 
 
 'Ah, well, that's a pity. Mrs Higgin- 
 botham would like to meet a few of the 
 young fellows who will be my companions 
 for the next three years. She said so. Per- 
 haps you might get one of your cricketing 
 friends who would be unoccupied to look 
 after us.' 
 
 ' I'm afraid most of them will have people 
 of their own to look after. However, if any 
 of them happens to lose his father and 
 mother between now and Henley, I'll see 
 what can be done.' 
 
 ' And now I must go to bed,' said Mr 
 Binney, 'so as to begin work early to- 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 61 
 
 morrow morning. - I don't want to lose a 
 minute more than I can help. I'm not 
 getting on terms with Mr Plato as quickly 
 as I should like. I shall be able to intro- 
 duce you to Minshull before you start, 
 Lucius. He's a good chap, and not a bit 
 stand-offish as you might expect, considering 
 he's a B.A., and I'm not even a freshman 
 yet. You'll find him quite easy to get on 
 with.' 
 
 Minshull was one of those people in 
 whose eyes a three years' residence at Oxford 
 or Cambridge is such a glorious thing, that 
 if they have' gone through it themselves 
 they can talk or think of nothing else 
 throughout their lives. The healthy, 
 pleasant life of the average undergraduate is 
 idealised into a sort of seventh heaven, and a 
 ' blue ' takes his place immediately below 
 the archangels and considerably above any 
 mere mortal. Seniority of residence forms 
 an almost complete bar to social intercourse 
 with undergraduates of lower standing, and 
 the little code of etiquette invented to enliven 
 proceedings in the lesser colleges is as the 
 ' laws of the Medes and Persians. To be or to 
 have been 'a 'Varsity man' was the only 
 thing quite necessary in MinshuU's eyes, 
 
62 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 if you were to call yourself a gentleman, 
 and he therefore saw nothing that was not 
 entirely laudable in Mr Binney's determina- 
 tion to acquire this hall-mark of superi- 
 ority, however late in life. While trying 
 to instil into his pupil the requisite amount 
 of Latin and Greek, he imparted to him 
 at the same time his own particular point 
 of view in matters of undergraduate custom, 
 taught him what to admire and what to 
 avoid, until Mr Binney was infused with 
 the spirit of a provincial youth about to 
 enter the gates of the University paradise 
 from his country grammar school. Mr 
 Binney had first of all considered a belated 
 career at Cambridge as an opportunity for 
 mending a defective education ; under the 
 encouragement of Mrs Higginbotham's 
 yearnings after vanished delights he had 
 come to look upon it as a means of gain^ 
 ing some of the prestige of golden youth ; 
 influenced by Minshull's complacent rever- 
 ence, he had insensibly drifted away from 
 the careless acquiescence with which Lucius, 
 for instance, regarded his own proposed 
 residence at the University, and now 
 felt that he should break his heart if he 
 was prevented from taking his part in the 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 63 
 
 glamorous delights which his tutor held 
 before his eyes. He ,made herculean efforts 
 to get on terms with his examination 
 subjects, and worked harder than he had 
 ever done in his life before. 
 
 Minshull arrived at nine o'clock the next 
 morning as usual. Mr Binney, who had 
 been working since seven and had break- 
 fasted at eight, had not yet returned 
 from a short constitutional, and Lucius 
 had the privilege of a short interview 
 with his father's tutor. 
 
 Minshull was a tall young man, rather 
 shabbily dressed, with a long solemn face 
 diversified by little ranges of spots of an 
 eruptive tendency. He greeted Lucius 
 with some respect, for Lucius was a poten- 
 tial. ' blue,' and Minshull woulcj have been as 
 incapable of keeping on his hat in church 
 as of talking without due reverence to a 
 •blue.' 
 
 ' How's the governor getting on with 
 his work?' asked Lucius with an abashed 
 snigger. 
 
 ' Oh, pretty well,' replied Minshull. 
 ' He works very hard, but of course he 
 has to do everything from the begin- 
 ning.' 
 
64 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 'No chance of his getting through, I 
 suppose?' said Lucius. 
 
 'Oh, I don't know,' said MinshuU. 'If 
 he works as hard as he has been doing so 
 far for the next three months he may 
 just be able to scrape through in October.' 
 
 Lucius began to pace the room*. 
 
 ' If he gets into Trinity I won't go up, 
 that's flat,' he said. 
 
 ' What ! not go up to the " 'Varsity " 
 when you've got the chance ! ' . exclaimed 
 Minshull. ' My dear fellow you don't 
 know what you're talking about. You 
 will regret it all your life if you don't.' 
 
 ' Look here,' said Lucius, ' you were at 
 Cambridge, weren't you .'' ' 
 
 'Yes, certainly,' said Minshull, slightly 
 offended. ' I took my degree last year.' 
 
 'Well, how would you have liked to have 
 your old governor playing the fool up there 
 at the same college ? ' 
 
 ' I see no reason to suppose that Mr 
 Binney will play the fool,' said Minshull 
 stiffly. ' I have put him up to everything 
 he ought to know. He won't make mis- 
 takes. He is not likely to carry an umbrella 
 with a cap and gown or anything of that 
 sort.' 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 65 
 
 'Why shouldn't he carfy an umbrella 
 if it rains ? Look here, can't you make 
 certain of his getting pilled for this ex- 
 amination ? ' 
 
 MinshuU looked horrified. 'What! and 
 prevent his going up to the 'Varsity when 
 he wants to ? ' he exclaimed. 
 
 • Or if you can't do that and he's likely to 
 get through, tell him that you don't think 
 much of Trinity, and get him to go some- 
 where else.' 
 
 'There are plenty of good colleges in 
 Cambridge besides Trinity,' said Minshull, 
 ' although Trinity men don't seem to think 
 so. My own college, for instance, Peter- 
 house, isn't big, but it is one of the best, if 
 not the best of the smaller ones.' 
 
 ' Is it .? Well then, get him to go there. 
 Do you mean to say you don't think it's a 
 beastly shame him wanting to come up and 
 spoil all my time at Cambridge ? * 
 
 * I can't see — ' began Minshull, but just 
 then Mr Binney came in, and Lucius left 
 them to their labours, with the uncomfort- 
 
 r able conviction that the toils were clos- 
 " ing in on him and that there was no help 
 
 at any rate to be gained from his father's 
 
 tutor. 
 
66 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Henley week came round in due course, 
 but Mrs Higginbotham, alas, did not come 
 round with it. Her cold had settled on her 
 lungs and the poor lady was brought very 
 low. At the time Mr Binney hoped to 
 have been paddling her about on the 
 Thames in a Canadian canoe she was 
 surveying the beauties of Torquay in a bath- 
 chair instead. Mr Binney had been told by 
 MinshuU that if he really wished to pass the 
 Trinity entrance examination in October, it 
 was absolutely imperative that he should not 
 lose a single day's work if he could possibly 
 help it, so Lucius won a reprieve for that 
 occasion, at least, and as the Eton boys 
 managed to win the Ladies' Plate and rowed a 
 good race in the semi-final heat for the Grand 
 Challenge Cup, he spent on the whole a 
 pleasant Henley, During the first few 
 weeks of his holidays he was training for and 
 rowing in some of the up-river regattas, and 
 September he spent with various school- 
 fellows in Scotland, so it was not until just 
 before he was due at Cambridge that he 
 found himself once more in the house in 
 Russell Square and the society of his father. 
 Mr Binney, in the meantime, fired with a 
 mighty ambition to show his mettle and 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 67 
 
 acquit himself well in his examination, had 
 retired to an east coast village with Min- 
 shull, and devoted himself strenuously to his 
 books. He had worked very hard for six 
 months, but a man who has left a cheap 
 commercial school at the age of fourteen, and, 
 that thirty years before, can hardly expect to 
 do in that time what a public school boy has 
 been working steadily up to ever since his 
 education began. A month before the ex- 
 amination, Minshull saw that his pupil had 
 no chance of success, and told him so one 
 morning as they were walking together by 
 the sea. Mr Binney was heart-brokenj 
 
 'No chance, Minshull.?' he asked plain- 
 tively. ' I don't mind working another two 
 hours a day, you know. Isn't there any 
 chance ? ' 
 
 ' I'm afraid not, Mr Binney," said Min- 
 shull, ' you have worked very hard ; you 
 couldn't have done better ; but you see the 
 work is all new to you. You might get in 
 at the Hall, perhaps, or if you cared about it 
 I should think I might have enough in- 
 fluence with the Peterhouse authorities 
 
 tO-r' 
 
 ' Never,' said Mr Binney firmly. ' Trinity 
 or nowherCi If I make up my mind to a 
 
68 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 thing, I stick to it. I shouldn't have made 
 •my fortune if I hadn't.' 
 
 ' I should advise you, sir, to give up all 
 ideas of attempting the October examina- 
 tion,' said MinshuU. ' I can assure you, you 
 can't possibly pass, it, and if you do very 
 badly it may be prejudicial to your chances 
 in the future. Take a month's holiday, or 
 you'll knock yourself up. Then set to 
 work again and be ready for them next 
 spring.' 
 
 ' I feel you're right,' said poor Mr Binney. 
 ' I feel you're right, MinshuU, but it's a sad 
 blow. You'll excuse me if I just walk 
 on alone for a bit. I shall get over it 
 better,' 
 
 MinshuU left him, and Mr Binney spent 
 a very bitter hour by himself. He had 
 never been beaten before when he had made 
 up his mind to succeed, and it enraged him 
 to think of the two hundred beardless boys 
 who would enter Trinity College as fresh- 
 men in a month's time, most of whom had 
 succeeded without any difficulty in doing 
 what he could not do even with the most 
 strenuous endeavours. Lucius, for instance, 
 had taken the whole thing very calmly, 
 although he was not a particularly clever 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 69 
 
 nor a particularly diligent boy. Then his 
 thoughts passed on to Mrs Higginbotham 
 — Martha. That was the worst thought 
 of all. He had written once a week to 
 Mrs Higginbotham, alluding in an airy 
 way to his new acquaintances, Plato and 
 Virgil and £)uclid, as if he and they were 
 on the most intimate terms of familiarity. 
 Now he would have to tell her that their 
 thoughts were too deep for him — for him 
 who had familiarised all England with the 
 mind of a Shakespeare — and that the lan- 
 guages by means of which they expressed 
 their thoughts, still presented such a moun- 
 tain of obstacles to him, that it was doubt- 
 ful if he would ever succeed in getting over 
 them. Still, the confession would have 
 to be made, and Mr Binney, with that 
 directness which characterised all his actions, 
 determined that it should be made that very 
 night. ' I ani very, very sorry, Martha,' 
 , he wrote, ' I have really done my best. 
 I shouldn't have been worthy of you if 
 I hadn't. I'm afraid your Peter is a bit 
 of a dunce, although he never thought 
 so before. Write and say you will not 
 throw me over for it, and I shall set to 
 work aga,in with renewed earnestness.' 
 
70 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham, although deeply 
 disappointed, wrote a very kind and 
 consoling letter from Torquay, where her 
 bronchial tubes, which had assumed com- 
 plete mastery over all her actions, still 
 detained her, 
 
 *If at first you don't siicceed, try, 
 try, try again,' she wrote, and thought 
 she had said a very original thing. 
 ' I always found, when I was a young 
 lady at school, that if I couldn't master 
 my tasks immediately, the only thing for 
 it was, not to give them up, but to deter- 
 mine that I would master them in time ; 
 and my mistress. Miss Dolby — now an 
 angel — used frequently to point me out 
 to the parents of other pupils, and say, 
 "That child has great determination, and 
 will undoubtedly make her mark." I am 
 aware that I have not fulfilled Miss 
 Dolby's prophecy up to present date, 
 but your triumphs are mine, Peter, and 
 I trust that we shall both grow famous 
 together.' 
 
 Mr Binney was much encouraged by 
 Mrs Higginbotham's letter. He took a 
 holiday and went to Torquay, and by 
 the time Lucius went up to Cambridge 
 
LUCIUS WINS A YEAR'S RESPITE 71 
 
 early in October, very much relieved at 
 the idea of at least one year free from 
 the companionship of his father as a 
 fellow undergraduate, he had settled down 
 for a hard winter's work in Russell 
 Square. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 NO HELP TO BE GAINED FROAl MRS HIGGIN- 
 BOTHAM 
 
 Lucius Binney enjoyed his first year at 
 Cambridge exceedingly. He had been 
 popular at school and he was very much 
 liked at the Uriiversity. He did enough 
 work to enable him to avoid friction with 
 the authorities and passed both parts of 
 his Littlego in his first term. He rowed in 
 the Trial Eights, but as he was not heavy 
 enough to fill any place but bow in a 
 University boat, a place which was ade- 
 quately filled already, he did not get his 
 blue. His allowance enabled him to play 
 his part in the hospitalities of University 
 life with credit, and he showed no disposi- 
 tion to exceed it. He was made a member 
 of the historic Amateur Dramatic Club, 
 commonly known as the A. D. C, and 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 73 
 
 played the part of a maid-servant in the 
 first performances of his year on the most 
 approved principles of Cambridge dramatic 
 art, with a slim waist, a high colour, and an 
 unmistakably masculine voice. He would 
 have been one of the happiest men in the 
 University if he had not been continually 
 haunted by the thought of his father. 
 
 But for some reason or other Mr Binney, 
 although he insisted upon lengthy letters 
 being written to him, giving the fullest 
 possible account of University matters; ex- 
 pressed no intention of paying him a visit, 
 as Lucius lived in continual fear of his 
 doing. Perhaps he was ashamed of his 
 inability to pass the entrance examination 
 after having made certain of doing so ; 
 perhaps he preferred to make his first ap- 
 pearance amongst Cambridge men as an 
 undergraduate and not as the g^est of an 
 undergraduate. At any rate he left Lucius 
 unmolested during his first two terms, but 
 his letters became more and more jubilant 
 as he worked on at his examination subjects, 
 and felt himself getting nearer the desired 
 goal. 
 
 Lucius had a friend called Dizzy. His 
 name was not really Dizzy, but it is only 
 
74 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 fair to state that he had been christened 
 Benjamin. To him alone, of all his friends, 
 Lucius had disclosed, under a solemn promise 
 of secrecy, the dark fate that was hanging 
 over him. 
 
 ' He'll pass this time, Dizzy, I know he 
 will,' said Lucius, after receiving a more than 
 usually confident letter from his father, who 
 informed him that Minshull had told him 
 that his Latin prose was, at last, beginning 
 to show signs of an elementary grasp of 
 the fact that there was such a thing as 
 Latin grammar. 
 
 ' Not he,' said Dizzy with complete con- 
 fidence. ' He'll never pass. I knew an 
 old geezer — no offence to your governor, 
 Lucy — who first took up Latin when his 
 little boys were seven and eight, under a 
 governess. First week they were all three 
 about equal. Then the eldest boy began 
 to forge ahead. In a fortnight the little 
 one left the old man behind, and, after a 
 month the governess said she'd have to 
 go if he didn't do her more credit. He 
 didn't wg,nt that, so he married her, which 
 was what he'd been after all along, only hadn't 
 liked to say so. They catit learn things 
 at that time of life, my boy, any more than 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 75 
 
 we can make a pot of money by winking at 
 a fellow in the Stock Exchange. It's not in 
 em. 
 
 'You don't know my governor, said 
 Lucius, his depression very little lightened 
 by Dizzy's narrative. ' He's been at it for 
 nearly a year now, grinding like a galley 
 slave. That fellow Minshull must have got 
 something into his head by this time. And 
 after all the entrance exam, isn't anything 
 very big, is it ? ' 
 
 'Not to us ; we're educated men,' said 
 Dizzy, who was a member of Trinity Hall, 
 where the entrance examination is tempered 
 to the shorn Trinity candidate. 'But 
 it's the devil and all to people like your 
 old governor who ain't used to that sort of 
 thing. He won't pass, Lucy; don't you 
 be afraid of it.' 
 
 ' It's too bad of him wanting to come up, 
 isn't it, Dizzy?' said poor Lucius, who 
 yearned for sympathy and could only obtain 
 it from this one particular friend. 
 
 ' It £f too bad,' said Dizzy. ' I don't know 
 what governors are coming to. There's 
 mine wrote to me the other day and said 
 I was disgracing the family name, just 
 because I turned out those lights in St 
 
76 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Andrew's Street and got hauled up at the 
 police court for it. I told him I did it 
 entirely to save the ratepayers' money. 
 He's always talking about the enormous 
 fiscal burdens he's got to bear, or some such 
 tommy-rot, and I thought that would please 
 him. But not a bit of it. Governors never 
 listen to reason. « I got eight pages back 
 with a lot more about the family name. 
 -Hang it, it ain't much of a name after all.' 
 
 It was not. It was Stubbs. But General 
 Sir Richard Stubbs, V.C., had done his 
 little best to adorn it in days gone by and 
 saw no great probability of his son Benjamin 
 doing the same in days to come. 
 
 The account Lucius gave at home of his 
 doings fired Mr Binney's imagination. 
 
 'Splendid, my boy, splendid!' cried the 
 little man, when he described the two bumps 
 which the Third Trinity boat had made in 
 the Lent races. ' I shall g0 in for rowing 
 myself; best exercise you can have,' and Mr 
 Binney drew himself up and struck the place 
 where his chest would have been if he had 
 had one. ' Is it likely, do you think, Lucius, 
 that you and I will row in the same boat ? ' 
 
 ' It's not only unlikely,' said Lucius 
 shortly, ' it's impossible.' 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 77 
 
 'Oh, indeed,' said Mr Binney, with a 
 dangerous gleam in his eye. ' You are such 
 a swell, I suppose, that nobody else can 
 expect to come near you.' 
 
 ' You wouldn't even belong to the same 
 boat-club,' said Lucius. 'You ought, to 
 know that by this time. Third Trinity is 
 only for Eton and Westminster men, the 
 rest of the college belongs to First Trinity.' 
 
 •I did know it,' said Mr Binney, 'but I 
 had forgotten it for the moment. You 
 needn't take me up so sharp, Lucius. Is 
 First Trinity a good boat club?' 
 
 ' Of course it is,' said Lucius. 
 
 ' Very well, then, I shall join it, and take 
 up rowing seriously. Have you spoken at 
 the Union yet ? ' 
 
 'No, I don't belong to it. I shouldn't 
 speak if I did, and it's no, good belonging to 
 that and the " Pitt " too.' 
 
 ' The " Pitt " ! What's the " Pitt " ? ' 
 
 • It's a club.' 
 
 ' Is it the thing to belong to it ? ' 
 
 ' Oh I don't know. A lot of people do.' 
 
 ' Ah, well, I must belong to that too.' 
 
 'You have to be elected to it. People 
 sometimes get pilled.' 
 
 'Well, I should hope there wouldn't be 
 
78 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 much chance of my getting pilled, whatever 
 that may mean. I belong to the National 
 Liberal Club. That ought to be enough for 
 them, oughtn't it ? ' 
 
 ' Quite enough for them, I should think,' 
 answered Lucius, who had once dined at 
 that famous institution with Peter, and 
 been offensively patronised by one of Mr 
 Binney's fellow-members, a man old enough 
 to be his father. 
 
 ' I shall join the Union,' continued Mr 
 Binney. ' I expect most of my triumphs 
 will lie there. I am accustomed to address- 
 ing large assemblies. . I was nearly elected 
 to the London County Council two years 
 ago, as you know. That's where I score, ypu 
 see, being a man of the world among a lot 
 of boys. I've learnt to do things that they 
 are only just beginning to think about' 
 
 'Yes. You've made your pile amongst 
 other things,' replied Lucius. 'Most of us 
 haven't learnt to do that yet. We generally 
 begin at the other end and spend it first.' 
 
 ' I shan't grudge spending some of it,' said 
 Mr Binney. ' I hope to entertain the young 
 fellows a good deal. Minshull says if you 
 give a few good breakfasts every term— do 
 the thing well, you know, with perhaps some 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 79 
 
 fruit and a bottle of claret to come after — 
 you get a tremendous reputation for hospi- 
 tality throughout the 'Varsity. Is tha,t so ? ' 
 
 'Well, I'm not sure I ever met anybody 
 who drank claret at breakfast. I did knbw 
 a fellow who used to drink brandy. He 
 certainly did get a tremendous reputation 
 throughout the 'Varsity, but it wasn't for 
 hospitality. He wasn't up there long.' 
 
 ' H'm. Well, Minshull said he knew a 
 man who went up a bit late, who had more 
 money to spend than most people, who got 
 into the first set at Peterhouse through his 
 breakfasts.' 
 
 ' Did he ? Lucky fellow ! Well, I should 
 give a few breakfasts if I were you, father. 
 We shall all think you a tremendous 
 chap.' 
 
 ' I mean to go one better than that, my 
 boy, and give a little dinner occasionally, 
 to the dlite of the 'Varsity — blues, and 
 people of that sort. I daresay you young 
 fellows will only be too pleased to go 
 outside the ordinary lines once in a wky. 
 I suppose there's no rule against giving 
 dinners, is there ? ' 
 
 ' I never heard of it. It's pretty often 
 broken if there is.' 
 
80 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 • I intend to do the thing well, and open 
 a bottle of champagne. I daresay, now, 
 champagne's a thing that!s hardly known 
 at Cambridge.' 
 
 'That's what I told my wine merchant 
 last term. He was rather annoyed.' 
 
 •I don't object to a little jollification 
 occasionally. I daresay you and I, Lucius 
 — for you shall do what' I do — will be- 
 come pretty well known up there by- 
 and-bye.' 
 
 • I daresay we shall,' said Lucius with 
 a sigh. And, indeed, it did not seem 
 unlikely. 
 
 Before Lucius went back to Cambridge 
 for the summer term, he made one last 
 attempt to avert the catastrophe which 
 had now become imminent — for MinshuU 
 had told him that Mr Binney was now 
 , quite capable of passing the required test. 
 He called on Mrs Higginbotham, whose 
 bronchial tubes had by this time become less 
 ostentatious in their behaviour. 
 
 'Well, Lucius,' said that lady, when he 
 was seated opposite to her in her comfort- 
 able drawing-room, ' you will soon have 
 your dear father to look after you at College. 
 It is not many young men who have a 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 81 
 
 father so ready to share in all their little 
 pleasures.' 
 
 ' No/ said Lucius. ' Don't you think 
 you could stop him, Mrs Higginbotham, 
 if you tried ? ' 
 
 ' Stop him ! ' exclaimed Mrs Higgin- 
 botham with raised voice and hands. ' My 
 dear Lucius, do not tell me that you are 
 so selfish as to be jealous of an excellent 
 father.' 
 
 ' Jealous ! ' echoed Lucius. ' I don't know 
 what you mean.' 
 
 ' You do know what I mean, Lucius,' said 
 Mrs Higginbotham severely. 'And you 
 are jealous. I can see it in your face. 
 Here is your dear father continually talk- 
 ing to me with pride about the things you 
 are doing at Cambridge, while you are 
 only thinking of yourself, and fear that 
 you will lose the position you have won 
 when he is there to compete with you. 
 What a contrast ! You should be ashamed 
 of such feelings, Lucius. I am sure I 
 should be if I were in your place. What 
 matter if you do have to take a lower 
 place in the estimation of your young 
 friends when it is your own father — and 
 
82 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 such a father — who will replace you? I 
 do not like to think of such behaviour.* 
 
 ' He'll only be laughed at, you know,' 
 said Lucius. 
 
 'And do you mean to tell me that, as 
 an unworthy revenge for your loss of 
 prestige, you would actually dare to hold 
 your own father up to ridicule "i ' inquired 
 Mrs Higginbotham. 
 
 ' Of course I shouldn't,' said Lucius. ' I 
 should do my best to prevent his making 
 a f — I mean becoming notorious.' 
 
 ' There ! ' said Mrs Higginbotham triumph- 
 antly. * Now you have acknowledged your 
 baseness, Lucius. I am thoroughly ashamed 
 of you. But you will learn that you cannot 
 prevent your father from becoming notorious. 
 He is bound to take the lead in whatever 
 he takes up, especially among a lot of boys 
 many years his juniors, and far inferior 
 in capacity. I am afraid that in addition 
 to your miserable jealousy, Lucius, there 
 are things you wish to hide in your life 
 at Cambridge, things that you do not wish 
 your father to know of. I hope, indeed, 
 that is not so. I should be truly sorry if 
 the innocent life to which he is looking 
 forward with such pleasure was to be 
 
NO HELP FROM MRS HIGGINBOTHAM 8S 
 
 spoiled by the misbehaviour of one for 
 whom he has done so much.' 
 
 'I've got nothing to be ashamed of in 
 my life at Cambridge, Mrs Higginbotham,' 
 said Lucius. 'You don't seem to be any 
 more reasonable about this silly scheme 
 than my father himself. I had better go, 
 I think.' 
 
 ' I think so too,* said Mrs Higginbotham. 
 'And do not come and see me again, 
 Lucius, until you are in a better frame of 
 mind, and can speak with more respect 
 to one of your father's oldest friends.' 
 
 ' I won't come and see you again at all, 
 you silly old fool,' said Lucius ; but he 
 waited to say it until he was on the other 
 side of the door. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 
 
 Lucius's first May term wore itself out 
 with a burst of glorious summer weather. 
 The boat races and cricket matches, the 
 dances and college concerts, the crowds 
 of sisters and cousins, the mayonnaises and 
 iced cups, and all the other attributes of 
 those ten days of mid-June which go by 
 the name of the May week, played their 
 accustomed parts in mitigating the severity 
 of the toil to which Cambridge devotes 
 itself for the rest of the academic year. 
 
 But to Lucius there was a heavy cloud 
 darkening the vivid blue of the summer 
 sky. Mr Binney was to arrive at the end 
 of the term, to undergo his examination. 
 The days passed with relentless speed, and 
 one unhappy morning he found himself 
 walking up and down the long unlovely 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 85 
 
 platform of the Cambridge station, await- 
 ing the train which was bearing his father 
 rapidly towards the scene of his future 
 exploits. So far only Mr Benjamin Stubbs 
 shared with him the knowledge of the 
 evil fate that was in store for him. But 
 the secret was bound to come out now, 
 and Lucius wondered whether there was 
 a more unhappy man in all Cambridge than 
 himself. 
 
 Mr Binney arrived, accompanied by 
 Minshull, for whom he had taken rooms 
 at the Hoop, in order that he might have 
 the advantage of his able tuition up to the 
 very last moment, for he was determined 
 to throw away no little chance that might 
 add to his prospect of success. Mr Binney 
 himself had been allotted rooms in college 
 for the few days during which the exami- 
 nation lasted. If he was not already a 
 Cambridge man this was the next best 
 thing to it, and a proud man was Mr 
 Binney to find himself the occupant of a 
 garret in the Great Court with a bedroom 
 which any one of his servants at Russell 
 Square would have turned up her nose 
 at. They were the rooms of a sizar, and 
 were barely furnished even for a very 
 
86 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 poor man's rooms, but the sizar had 
 blossomed into the Senior Wrangler of 
 that year, and that fact repaid Mr Binney 
 in full for any little inconvenience he might 
 have felt at being deprived of most of the 
 necessities and all the luxuries of life to 
 which he had been accustomed. 
 
 Lucius accompanied his father to these 
 rooms and left him to himself, for he was 
 lunching with the captain of his boat. 
 It was the last night of the races, and 
 Mr Binney proposed, after spending a 
 busy afternoon with MinshuU over his 
 books, to go down to Ditton Corner and 
 see the boats. Lucius thanked his lucky 
 stars that he was rowing and need not pre- 
 sent his father to an admiring circle of 
 friends on that very public occasion. He 
 would have been pleased enough to intro- 
 duce him as a father, there or at any other 
 place, if he had come up simply to pay 
 him a visit, for Lucius was a right-minded 
 boy and showed no disposition to be 
 ashamed of his somewhat humble origin 
 among his circle of more or less gilded 
 youth ; but to have to say ' My father, 
 who is coming up here next term,' and to have 
 to stand by while little Mr Binney tried to 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 87 
 
 reduce himself to the level of an inexperi- 
 enced schoolboy, as he felt certain he 
 would do, was an ordeal that he did not 
 feel equal to, and he made up his mind 
 to let the inevitable catastrophe bring itself 
 about in its own way. He told himself 
 that he was happy to have averted it for 
 so long, for although some of the dons 
 knew of Mr Binney's intention, and his 
 own Tutor had actually talked to him about 
 it, the secret did not seem to have become 
 public property among the undergraduates 
 of the college. 
 
 Mr Binney was delighted with everytliing 
 he saw. The gay crowd in the paddock 
 at Ditton Corner, the lines of carriages on 
 one side, and the flotilla of moored boats 
 under the bank, appealed to him with all 
 the force of a delightful novelty. The 
 boating men and others on the tow-path 
 across the river, with the photographers 
 plying their trade and letting off their 
 amiable witticisms through their mega- 
 phones, the boat crews in their coloured 
 coats, some of them with flowers in their 
 hats, swinging down to their stations round 
 the bend, gave him great pleasure. Then, 
 after a pause, filled with the gossip and 
 
88 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 laughter of the crowd, when a distant 
 gun was heard, and three minutes^ after- 
 wards a second, and a minute after yet 
 another ; when the men in the boats under 
 the bank straightened themselves and said, 
 ' They're off' ; when a moving mass of the 
 heads of men running was seen far away 
 under the willows across the meadows ; 
 when little men laden with bundles of coats 
 fled along the tow-path opposite towards 
 the ' Pike and Eel ' ; when the noise of the 
 shouting and the springing of rattles drew 
 nearer ; when every head in the crowd 
 was turned towards Ditton Corner, and two 
 boats came into sight very close to one 
 another, and after them two more, and 
 the shouting and cheering was taken up by 
 every one around him, Mr Binney lost his 
 head with excitement, and yelled with the 
 best of them, especially for the heroes of 
 Fitzwilliam Hall whom he, for some reason 
 or other, mistook for a Trinity crew. 
 
 ' It's grand, Minshull, it's grand,' he said 
 as they made their way home with the 
 crowd along the river bank and across 
 Midsummer Common. ' I don't wonder at 
 your being proud of Cambridge, Minshull.' 
 
 ' I'm glad Pothouse made their bump 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 89 
 
 just opposite Ditton,* said Minshull com- 
 placently. * Now you see what rowing is 
 like, Mr Binney.' 
 
 ' Lucius rowed well,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' Didn't you think so ? ' 
 
 'Yes,' said Minshull, who had been a 
 diligent but ineffective La Crosse and hockey 
 player during his residence at the University, 
 and hardly knew an oar from a barge pole. 
 ' But it seemed to me that he hardly caught 
 the beginning enough.' 
 
 'You had better tell him that,' said 
 Mr Binney with unconscious irony. ' I 
 daresay he'll be glad of any hints he can 
 get.' 
 
 Lucius sat in his rooms in Jesus Lane 
 the next afternoon in a very depressed 
 frame of mind. His father had intimated 
 that he was coming to tea. Lucius had 
 invited Dizzy to meet him, hoping that his 
 friend's pleasant flow of conversation would 
 help out the entertainment, and prevent 
 his own plentiful lack of cheerfulness from 
 becoming too apparent ; but Dizzy had not 
 arrived yet. He devoutly hoped that no- 
 body else would unexpectedly honour him 
 with his society. But alas ! an Eton friend, 
 one year his junior, who was in for the 
 
90 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 entrance examination, took that untoward 
 opportunity of paying him a visit. 
 
 • There's such a rummy little devil up/ 
 he said in the course of conversation, ' about 
 sixty years old, with carrotty whiskers. It 
 oughtn't to be allowed.' 
 
 The blow had fallen. Poor Lucius sat 
 silent in untold misery, and just then in 
 walked Mr Binney. 'My father,' said the 
 wretched boy. ' Lord Blathgowrie.* 
 
 Lord Blathgowrie shook hands with Mr 
 Binney without visible embarrassment, and. 
 then suddenly remembering a pressing en- 
 gagement, went out to spread his extra- 
 ordinary news. 
 
 •A lord!' said little Mr Binney with 
 great satisfaction. ' Well, there are a good 
 many lords I could buy up. However, that 
 seems a nice young fellow, I wonder how 
 he got on with his Virgil paper. I must 
 ask him to-morrow.' 
 
 Lucius groaned inwardly. • I shouldn't 
 pal up to chaps like that, if I were you, 
 father,' he said. ' I should keep as quiet 
 as I could, or you'll make yourself and me 
 look jolly ridiculous.' 
 
 ' Allow me to tell you, . sir,' said Mr 
 Binney up in arms at once, ' that no action 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 91 
 
 I choose to take is likely to make either 
 you or myself look ridiculous. And I object 
 to being made the butt of such observations 
 from my own son. It isn't the first time 
 it has happened, and in order that it may 
 be the last, I beg to tell you that it is my 
 intention to knock ten pounds a year off 
 your very handsome allowance for every 
 speech of that sort that I am called upon to 
 listen to.' 
 
 . Lucius groaned again and passed his 
 hand wearily across his brow, but made no 
 verbal remonstrance to his father's harsh 
 announcement, and just then the door of 
 the house was heard to slam, and Dizzy 
 tumbled noisily upstairs and into the 
 room. 
 
 ' My father — Mr Stubbs,' said Lucius 
 dejectedly. 
 
 ' How d'yer do, Mr Binney,' said the 
 cheerful Dizzy. ' Pleased to meet you. 
 Lucy — I mean Lucius, told me you were 
 thinking of giving us a turn up here. Not 
 a bad place, is it.? Better than Thread- 
 needle Street, eh } ' 
 
 ' I don't know very much about Thread- 
 needle Street, Mr Stubbs,' said Mr Binney, 
 a little taken aback by Dizzy's extreme 
 
92 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 friendliness, ' but this certainly is not a bad 
 place. Indeed it is a very good place. It 
 is a noble place.' 
 
 ' How d'yer get on with your papers ? ' 
 inquired Dizzy, helping himself to a large 
 slice of cake. ' Pipped 'em all right, I hope.' 
 
 ' I think I acquitted myself tolerably satis- 
 factorily, thank you,' answered Mr Binney. 
 ' We were examined on the Acts of the 
 Apostles this afternoon.' 
 
 ' Rummy old boys, those Apostles,' began 
 Dizzy in a vein of reminiscent anecdote, but 
 Mr Binney interrupted him. 
 
 'Mr Stubbs,' he said, ' I am a man of 
 religious views. I must beg you not. to 
 make light of sacred matters. You'll excuse 
 my making the stipulation, but — ' 
 
 'Oh, not at all,' said the unabashed 
 Dizzy ambiguously, ' don't mention it. I 
 was only going to say that it seems a 
 rummy thing — however, perhaps I'd better 
 not. See the races yesterday ? ' 
 
 ' I did,' said Mr Binney, warming at once. 
 ' I never saw anything which pleased me 
 better. What a thing it is to see a lot of 
 young fellows going in for such a grand 
 sport as that.' 
 
 ' It is,' said Dizzy. ' I'm a whale on sport. 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 93 
 
 I ain't much of a hand in a boat myself, 
 but put me on a horse and I'll undertake 
 to—' 
 
 'Tumble off,' interpolated Lucius, who 
 was in a state of irritation verging on 
 desperation, 
 
 ' Lucy, you've got a fit of the green-eyed 
 monster,' said Dizzy. ' You ride like a bag 
 of potatoes yourself, and you're jealous of 
 those who can beat you. Don't you pay 
 any attention to him, Mr Binney. You'll 
 get to know him by-and-bye. Going to 
 keep a horse up here ? ' 
 
 ' I hadn't thought of it,' said Mr Binney 
 doubtfully. ' I rather thougiit of deyot-- 
 ing myself to rowing.' " 
 
 * Capital thing,' said Dizzy. ' I knew 
 a fellow who — '-' 
 
 Dizzy's anecdote was so little to the 
 point that it may be omitted. In later 
 life he would probably become one of 
 those old men who interrupt conversa- 
 tion with the dread opening, ' I recollect 
 upon one occasion,' and sail off into in- 
 terminable pointless reminiscence. But 
 at present, his absolute lack of self-con- 
 sciousness and his flow of youthful good i 
 spirits made him very agreeable company, 
 
94 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 and when he left Lucius's rooms half-an- 
 hour later,, he had completely captivated 
 Mr Binney with his artless prattle, 
 
 ' That's a very nice young fellow,' 
 said Mr Binney, when the door had 
 closed on Dizzy's back. ' If all your 
 friends at Trinity are like that, Lucius — ' 
 
 ' Stubbs isn't at Trinity,' said Lucius, 
 'he's at the Hall.' 
 
 ' Really ! ' said Mr Biniiey, much sur- 
 prised, ' I thought that Trinity men never 
 associated on equal terms with men of 
 other colleges.' 
 
 ' That's one of Minshull's ridiculous 
 ideas, I suppose,' Said Lucius. ' It don't 
 matter what college a fellow is at if he's 
 a good chap, and there are plenty of 
 good chaps in Cambridge outside Trinity, 
 especially at the Hall.' 
 ' ' But I should have expected a little 
 more — what shall I say ?-^<ieferencei in 
 a man from another college.' 
 
 'Well, then, I'm afraid it's one of those 
 expectations in which you'll be disap- 
 pointed if you'fe really coming up here. 
 Trinity's the best college in Cambridge 
 — or Oxford either for that matter^but 
 it isn't the only one, and nobody thinks 
 
MR BINNEY ARRIVES IN CAMBRIDGE 95 
 
 it is unless it's fellows like MinshuU, who 
 are always running it down, although 
 they would have given their ears to be- 
 long to it themselves.' 
 
 ' I don't like the tone you take up 
 about MinshuU, Lucius,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' MinshuU's a very good fellow, although he 
 hasn't had the advantages that you and 
 I have. I owe him a great deal, and I 
 shan't forget it. Now I must go and 
 look over the subjects for to-morrow's 
 papers.' 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LORD BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 
 
 Poor Lucius went up to Cambridge for 
 his second year with, his allowance pared 
 down to ^360 a year, for, careful as he 
 was, he had not been so successful as 
 altogether to avoid hurting his father's 
 susceptibilities ; and with him went Mr 
 Binney, for eighteen months of hard toil 
 had enabled him to pass the entrance 
 examination, and he was now duly ad- 
 mitted a pensioner of Trinity. 
 
 Lucius had been allotted rooms in 
 college, while Mr Binney inhabited one 
 of the choice mansions in Jesus Lane. 
 He had knocked off ten pounds from his 
 son's allowance for suggesting a retired 
 situation in the Trumpington Road. ' I 
 am determined to do the thing as well 
 as my means will permit of,' he had said. 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 97 
 
 'If I can secure good rooms in college 
 next year, I shall do so. Until then I 
 shall take the best lodgings that are 
 available.' 
 
 They parted at the railway station. 
 ' I suppose I shall see you some time 
 to-morrow,' said Mr Binney, when he 
 had collected his luggage and was just 
 stepping into a fly. 
 
 ' I suppose so,' said Lucius dejectedly, 
 as he drove away. 
 
 Lucius dined that night in hall, and 
 sat in extreme misery while his friends 
 aired their humour at his expense, for 
 by this time the news of Mr Binney's 
 arrival had become public property. Their 
 chaff was not ill-humoured, and if matters 
 had stood as they evidently imagined, 
 Lucius could have borne it. Elderly under- 
 graduates are not altogether unknown at 
 Cambridge, although they do not often 
 appear at Trinity College ; but they are 
 usually careful to comport themselves with 
 dignified reticence, and to keep very much 
 in the background. A University degree is, 
 as a rule, the sole end they have in view 
 in putting themselves to school again, and 
 they are very far from wishing to ape the 
 
 a 
 
98 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 manners and customs of the young men 
 with whom they share the pursuit of 
 that laudable object. Lucius had the 
 mortification of feeling that if Mr Binney 
 had contented himself with working 
 quietly for a degree, and living the un- 
 obtrusive life which befitted his years, the 
 amused interest aroused by the event of 
 father and son pursuing their studies at 
 the same time at the same college would 
 have worn itself out, and Mr Binney 
 might even have come to be considered 
 in the light of a pleasant acquaintance 
 by Lucius's friends. He knew quite well 
 that his father would not be content with 
 this humble r61e, and that the intermittent 
 ' sniping ' of which he was now the object 
 would develope into a regular fusilade of 
 ridicule, when Mr Binney had had time 
 to spread himself a bit and become more 
 notorious. 
 
 He went back to his solitary rooms after 
 hall and set himself down to read. Poor 
 boy, he was too dispirited to do anything 
 else. He sported himself in with the half- 
 formed intention of refusing admittance to 
 his father if he should present himself. But 
 up to ten o'clock when the college gates are 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 99 
 
 shut to outsiders, no one had attempted to 
 invade his privacy. Soon afterwards he 
 went to bed, haying spent his first evening 
 at Cambridge entirely in his own society. 
 For two days he moped alone, keeping to his 
 rooms as much as possible and only leaving 
 the college to go down to the river, where 
 his fame was steadily rising. His friends 
 for the most part considerately kept out 
 of his way, thinking that he might be en- 
 gaged in looking after his freshman parent. 
 But strangely enough he heard or saw 
 iiothing of Mr Binney. He avoided places 
 where he was likely to meet him, and so 
 far his father had never once been to his 
 rooms. 
 
 On the third morning he determined to 
 face the music. ' If I'm to stop up here,' he 
 said to himself, 'and I can't go down now 
 I've got a chance of my blue, I must make 
 up my mind to get used to it. But it's 
 enough to make a fellow take to drink, or 
 work, or something.' Then he put on his 
 hat and went round to the ' Pitt ' Club. 
 
 There was a group of men round the fire- 
 place in the big room. ' Halloa ! here's 
 Binney Minor,' said one of them. ' How's 
 your major getting on, old man .■' ' Then many 
 
100 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 agreeable pleasantries were fired off at him, 
 while he sat on one of the long seats and 
 pretended to read a paper. When it was 
 found that the pleasantries did not amuse 
 him, and he was taking his fate seriously, 
 they ceased, and by-and-bye an exodus look 
 place and he was left to himself. 
 
 ' I'm afraid poor old Lucy's papa is rather 
 a trial to him,' said one; of his late tormentors 
 as, they walked up Jesus Lane in the sedate 
 and easy manner affected by undergraduates 
 who value their position. 'What has he 
 come up for, any way?' 
 
 ' To look after Lucy, I suppose,' said 
 another, ' but I don't know why ; he's straight 
 enough.' 
 
 'Have you seen the little beggar?' in- 
 quired Blathgowrie, who was one of the 
 group. ' He's one of the rummiest little 
 beggars you ever saw ; rather like an elderly 
 jockey who's got into parliament. Can't 
 think where Lucy gets his good looks from. 
 His mother must have been a ripper.' 
 
 ' I saw him on the river yesterday,' said 
 a rowing man ; ' he was coxing a First 
 Trinity boat and shouting away as if he 
 had been at it all his life. The crew looked 
 frightened and the coach couldn't get a word 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 101 
 
 in edgeways. I think that little man is 
 going to afford us some amusement.' 
 
 ' If he's going to play the fool,' said the 
 first man, 'that's why Lucy looks so glum 
 when he's chaffed, and I don't wonder at it. 
 I must say it's beastly hard lines on him, 
 and he's such a good chap. Binney major's 
 the sort of governor one would like to 
 keep in the background. Here's Dizzy.' 
 
 Dizzy was on his way to the ' Pitt.' 
 When he got there he found Lucius sitting 
 alone, looking the picture of misery. A 
 few ' bloods ' were talking blatantly round 
 the fire, and some quiet members were 
 trying to write letters or read the papers 
 in other parts of the room. 
 
 ' Well, how has he been behaving .■' ' asked 
 Dizzy, sitting down by his friend. 
 
 ' I haven't seen him yet,' said Lucius. ' I 
 can't think why,' 
 
 ' Perhaps he means to behave decently 
 and keep out of the way,' suggested Dizzy. 
 
 ' Not he,' answered Lucius. ' There's 
 something up.' 
 
 There was. When Lucius got back to 
 his rooi^s he found a note on his table. 
 
 ' Dear Lucius,' it ran, ' Pray what is the 
 meaning of your not coming to call on me ? 
 
102 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 You know very well that I can't go to 
 your rooms until, you do, you being the 
 senior man, and there are a lot of things 
 I want to talk to you about. You will , 
 find yourself ;^I0 poorer at the end of 
 the year for this piece of impertinence, 
 and let me advise you to be very careful how 
 you behave. Though a freshman I am still 
 your father. Come to tea this afternoon 
 at five o'clock. I am not to be trifled 
 with.— P. B.' 
 
 The miserable Lucius went to his father's 
 rooms on his way up from the river. Mr 
 Binney had been on the river, too, and 
 had not yet returned. Lucius had an oppor- 
 tunity of surveying his father's quarters. 
 There was nothing to show they did not 
 belong to the most callow freshman of 
 eighteen. There were two large shields 
 with the coats-of-arms of the University 
 and Trinity College over the mantelpiece* 
 There was a Trinity coat-of-arms on the ' 
 coal scuttle, on the match-holders, the pipe- 
 rack, and every article in the room that 
 could reasonably bear it, as well as on 
 every piece of crockery that was ,laid out 
 on Mr Binney's tea-table. The usual text- 
 books and note-books lay about. Lucius 
 
BLATHGOWEIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 103 
 
 looked into the latter and found a feeble 
 attempt at a caricature of a respected 
 lecturer, signed P. 6, On the mantelpiece 
 were some printed cards and papers re- 
 lating to certain small clubs and societies, 
 of which the, freshman seeks membership 
 with much avidity, and resigns with equal 
 enthusiasm when he has reached the dignity 
 of his second year. On a chair lay Mr 
 Binney's cap and gown. To Lucius's horror, 
 the stiffening of the cap had disappeared, 
 and the gown had been cut short. These 
 are the unfailing signs of the second-rate 
 undergraduate ' who wishes to be taken for 
 a sporting character. Some misguided but 
 radically inoffensive freshmen fall under 
 the influence of such ideals in their early 
 days, and grow out of them afterwards. 
 But surely Mr Binney could not have 
 made friends with the rowdies , yet ! He 
 had hardly had time to make friends with 
 anybody. 
 
 Just then Mr Binney himself came in. 
 He was in his boating clothes, of which 
 he was not a little proud. 
 
 ' Oh, so you've condescended to come 
 at last, have you .'''he said. 
 
 ' I'm very sorry, father,' said poor Lucius. 
 
104 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I'd no idea you would stand on all that 
 ceremony. 1 couldn't make out why you 
 didn't turn up. I thought perhaps you 
 had made up your mind that it would 
 be better for us to take different lines,' 
 
 ' Another ten pounds off,' roared Mr 
 Binney, 'you know -what I said.' 
 
 ' Oh, d^-mn it,' said Lucius, losing 
 patience, ' I shan't have anything left at 
 all soon. I'd better go down at once, 
 and have done with it.' 
 
 'How dare you swear at me, sir."" cried 
 Mr Binney. 
 
 'Well, isn't it enough to make a chap 
 swear?' answe*«d Lucius, almost crying. 
 'I've had such a jolly time up here, and 
 now I'm ashamed to show my face. And 
 as if that wasn't enough you take money 
 off me every time I open my mouth.' 
 
 Mr Binney relented. He was fond 
 of his son, and Lucius looked very un- 
 happy. ' I'll let you off this time,' he said, 
 'but don't let it occur again. Now, what 
 I wanted to say was that I'm not getting 
 on as I expected. Not a soul has called 
 on me except some one who wanted a sub- 
 ' scription for a missionary society. I was 
 very pleased to give him a sovereign, of 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 105 
 
 course, but I could hardly take his call as 
 a friendly visit. I have picked up a few 
 friends of my own year at hall and else- 
 where, but that isn't what I want. I want 
 to know the distinguished men. Vou know 
 them. Why haven't you sent some of them 
 to call on me?' 
 
 'Look here, father,' said Lucius. 'It's 
 no use going on like this. The chaps I 
 know don't go. in for all this "calling" 
 rot, and I'm not going to ask them to. 
 If you musi know that particular lot, you'll 
 meet some of them in my rooms occasion- 
 ally, and if they take to you, well, you'll 
 get to know some of them. But you must 
 take your chance just like anybody else. 
 It's no good pushing things.' 
 
 'Well, there's sense in that,' said Mr 
 Binney. 'You can have a little dinner in 
 your rooms. I'll pay for it, and I daresay 
 we shall be very good friends before the 
 evening is out. I suppose you couldn't 
 get Muttlebury up for it, could you.? You 
 said you knew him. I should like to meet 
 Muttlebury.' 
 
 'No, I couldn't,' said Lucius shortly, 
 
 ' Well, any blues will do. I should like 
 to be able to tell Minshull I dined with a 
 
106 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 party of blues. He only knew one, and 
 that very slightly — Widgeon, who put the 
 hammer or something last year. He was 
 at Peterhouse — Pothouse, I mean. By-the- 
 bye, I suppose there's no harm in my 
 looking up men of my own year, is 
 there ? ' 
 
 * I suppose not, not if you use your sense 
 about it.' 
 
 'Now, what about the "Pitt" Club? 
 When is the election ? ' 
 
 ' I don't know. In about a fortnight I 
 should think.' 
 
 ' Is my name down for it ? ' 
 
 'No.' 
 
 'And why not, pray?' 
 
 ' I've only been there once since I came 
 up.' 
 
 'Put it down at once, then, and don't 
 lose any more time about it. MinshuU 
 had never heard of the "Pitt," but I 
 have learnt since I came up that all the 
 best known people belong to it. And 
 I should like to belong to the A. D. C. 
 too.' 
 
 ' I daresay I can manage that for you. 
 I'm on the committee now, and we are 
 always very kind ; but, look here, father, 
 
SLATHGOWRIE has something to say 107 
 
 there's not the slightest chance of your 
 belonging to the " Pitt " or the A. D. C. 
 either if you don't keep yourself in the 
 background\at first And whatever made 
 you knock the stuffing out of your cap 
 like that? It's only the rowdies whom 
 nobody respectable has anything to do with 
 who go in for that sort of thing.' 
 
 ' Minshull told me that if you wore a 
 new cap and gown everybody took you for 
 a smug,' said Mr Binney. « 
 
 ' Minshull's a fool,' said Lucius, with 
 witheririg scorn. 'You'd better take my 
 advice about things like that, not his. And 
 I should buy myself a new cap if I were 
 you.' 
 
 A few days after, Dizzy gave a dinner. 
 Most of his guests had arrived and 
 were discussing the vagaries of Mr 
 Binney, who by this time had become 
 a public character, when Blathgowrie 
 arrived in a state of some perturba- 
 tion. 
 
 ' I say, you chaps,' he said, as he came 
 in. 'This business will have to be Stopped. 
 I've had that little bantam in my rooms 
 since seven o'clock. I'm not going to 
 stand it.' 
 
108 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 'What did he want?' 
 
 'Said he hadn't seen me in hall, and 
 wondered what had become of me — thought 
 he'd pay me a friendly call.' 
 
 'What did you do?' 
 
 'Well, I was civil for the sake of poor 
 old Lucy. But I didn't get him out of 
 the room for an hour, and he said he was 
 coming again. Hang me if I ever saw 
 such a pushing little scug.' 
 , 'Lucy ought to tell him to keep to 
 himself.' 
 
 ' Bless you, he can't help it,' said Dizzy, 
 ' He gets his screw docked every time he 
 suggests such a thing.' 
 
 'Well, I call it a beastly shame. But 
 if Lucius can't do it, somebody else 
 must.' 
 
 ' I'll do it,' said Blathgowrie. ' I'm not 
 shy. He's bound to turn up again soon ; 
 said we were fellow freshman, or some such 
 rot, and ought to know one another better. 
 He'll know me better before I've done 
 with him. Hush, here's Lucy.' 
 
 Mr Binney was not elected to the ' Pitt ' 
 Club, and Lucius had not been able to 
 bring himself to propose his name for 
 membership of the A. D. C, preferring to 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 109 
 
 lose the ^lo of income which his father 
 knocked off for each rebuff, than to put 
 his colleagues to the awkward necessity of 
 either rejecting his nomination, or of electing 
 his father to clubs where he was not wanted. 
 Nor did his dinner bring about that measure 
 of popularity which Mr Binney had hoped 
 for. Lucius asked four of his tried friends, 
 who were very polite, very much bored, 
 and retired early. Dizzy might have saved 
 the situation, but Dizzy had gone up to 
 town with an exeat. Mr Binney had by 
 this time joined the Union and spoken 
 twice. He could talk of nothing else and 
 looked forward with confidence to filling 
 the President's chair. 
 
 A few nights afterwards he again invaded 
 Blathgowrie. It was about half-past nine, 
 and that estimable nobleman had a select 
 party of about twelve playing the unallow- 
 able game. 
 
 There was an abashed silence when little 
 Mr Binney entered and flung his cap and 
 gown on a chair. 
 
 'Good evening, Mr Binney,' said Blath- 
 gowrie. ' We are engaged in a quiet game 
 of whist. Could you make it convenient 
 to call on another occasion ? ' 
 
110 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' Don't mention it, my lord ; don't mention 
 it,' said Mr Binney. ' I'll make myself 
 comfortable and look on. I should like to 
 see whist played. It is a game I am 
 unacquainted with, although I recollect 
 when I was a young fellow Snap and Old 
 Maid used to be favourite games in the 
 family circle.' 
 
 ' They're favourite games up here,' said 
 Blathgowrie, 'and so are Hunt the Slipper 
 and Puss in the Corner. We'll play Puss 
 in the Cprner when we've finished this, 
 and you shall be poor pussy. What, not 
 going yet, Astley ! ' 
 
 But first one and then another of Blath- 
 gowrie's friends was afraid he must be going, 
 and in ten minutes he was alone with Mr 
 Binney, putting up the cards with unimpaired 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 ' I'm very sorry I've disturbed your game,' 
 said Mr Binney, whom this wholesale 
 exodus had considerably amazed. 
 
 ' Not at all, Mr Binney, not at all. My 
 friends are in the habit of retiring to rest 
 early. They're all anxious to catch the 
 worm to-morrow, you know.' 
 
 ' Don't call me Mr Binney,' said Peter ; 
 
BLATHGOWRIE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 111 
 
 ' call me Binney. We're of the same stand- 
 ing* you know.' 
 
 ' So we are, Binney,' acquiesced Blath- 
 gowrie. 'Well, Binney, how do you find 
 yourself? Pretty well, thank you ? ' 
 
 Mr Binney began to ^row suspicious. 
 
 * I hope, sir, I'm not intruding on you,' 
 he began. 
 
 'Well, Binney,' said Blathgowrie, 'to tell 
 you the plain truth, you do intrude con- 
 foundedly.' 
 
 Mr Binney started up out of his chair. 
 
 ' Pray sit down, Binney,' said Blathgowrie. 
 ' I am commissioned by my friends and 
 your son's — Lucy's, you know — to tell you 
 we consider you're behaving in a devilish 
 mean and shabby manner to him. He's 
 done his best for you, you know, but to tell 
 you the truth we don't care for you, Binney. 
 You're not quite our sort, you know — a 
 year or two older perhaps — and we really 
 can't have you poking in your nose where 
 you're not wanted. There are plenty of nice 
 quiet Johnnies about, who'll be very pleased 
 to make your acquaintance, especially if you 
 feed them well, but speaking for the unworthy 
 people whom you honour with your atten- 
 
112 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 tions at present, I beg to inform you that 
 they are declined with thanks.' 
 
 Mr Binney arose in his wrath. He was 
 somewhat violent and altogether incoherent. 
 Blathgowrie handed him his cap and gown 
 and opened the door for him. 
 
 'Good-night, Binney,' he said, 'mind the 
 step ; ' and Mr Binney disappeared down the 
 staircase. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION, AND 
 MAKES A DISTINGUISHED ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 Mr Binney went out of Blathgowrie's 
 lodgings and into the street in a white 
 heat of indignation. His blood boiled with- 
 in him at the indignity to which .he had 
 been subjected. Was it possible that he, 
 Peter Binney, the founder of a great com- 
 mercial house, the Bloomsbury ratepayer, 
 the almost successful candidate for the 
 London County Council, had been told in 
 so many words by a mere slip of an im- 
 pudent boy that his society was not wanted 
 by him and his callow friends ? What 
 next ! he wondered. As if he cared for 
 their contemptible society! Pshaw! It was 
 the other way about. If they had had the 
 slightest idea how his name was respected 
 in the City, they would have sung a very 
 
 H 
 
114 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 different tune. He wouldn't have their 
 acquaintance now, or join their precious 
 club if the committee went down on their 
 bended knees and begged him to do so. 
 He flung into his rooms burning with anger 
 against the whole insolent crew of them, 
 and most of all against his son, Lucius, 
 whom he unjustly accused of being the 
 disloyal cause of his late reverse. 
 
 ' Ah, Binney, I thocht ye wouldn't be 
 long, and I'd just wait for ye,' said a voice 
 with a strong Scotch accent, from the depths 
 of Mr Binney's armchair. 
 
 'Oh, that you, M'Gee!' said Mr Binney. 
 * I'm pleased to see you. But you'll excuse 
 me for being a little upset. I've just 
 undergone a piece of monstrous impertinence 
 from my Lord Blathgowrie, and I scarcely 
 know how to contain my anger.' 
 
 'Toch!' exclaimed M'Gee. 'What for 
 do ye want to mix yourself up with such 
 trash? ' I've come to talk to you about 
 the Union. Sit down, man, and listen.' 
 
 M'Gee, like Mr Binney, was a freshman, 
 and like Mr Binney againj had come up 
 to Cambridge many years later than the 
 average young • man enters upon his Uni- 
 versity course. He was the son of a 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 115 
 
 Highland gillie, and had succeeded with 
 incredible difficulty, as far as money was 
 concerned, in gaining a degree at a Scotch 
 University. But that had not sufficed for 
 him. He was ambitious, and extremely 
 tenacious of ideas. He had early made up 
 his mind to bring his brains to the market 
 of Cambridge, and at Cambridge he accord- 
 ingly found himself at the age of thirty-seven, 
 with a scholarship at St John's College, and 
 nothing else uppn which to support him- 
 self except his determination to succeed 
 to the highest honours that Cambridge 
 could afford. He had joined the Union 
 with a shrewd and resolute eye to the 
 President's chair, but the lighter social 
 success which held such a charm from Mr 
 Binney's point of view he regarded with 
 the most lofty scorn. Self-contained and 
 self-reliant as he was, however, he was 
 not entirely without a human weakness 
 for sympathy and encouragement in his 
 aims, and had fixed upon Mr Binney, as 
 one who shared with him some of the acci- 
 dents of his position, with whom to indulge 
 in the occasional luxury of discussing his 
 ambitions. 
 
 •I wouldn't give a thought to these 
 
116 PETER BINNEYj UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 young "bloods," as they call them,' said 
 M'Gee. ' They'll be of no use to ye. 
 They make a big splash while they are up 
 here, but when they go down they're no 
 better than dirt.' Here M'Gee snapped 
 a bony finger and thumb. * I'm no saying 
 that I'd like to be nothing but a worker 
 in Cambridge,' he went on. 'You keep 
 to yourself for three years and you come 
 out Senior Wrangler at the end of it, and 
 they put your picture in the papers. And 
 then you go down, and what glory do you 
 get from it? There's aye one way of 
 getting yourself known here, if you're a 
 man of brains, and that's at the Union. 
 Go round the rooms and look at the 
 pictures of the Presidents from the begin- 
 ning. Why, man, there's not a dozen of 
 them that isn't known to the world at 
 large. That's fame. And it's the sort of 
 fame that's worth having. Colloguing wi' 
 lords an' that is a puir thing to it.' 
 
 'You're right, M'Gee,' cried Mr Binney, 
 springing up. ' You're right. A lord ! 
 What's a lord and all his hangers - on ? 
 Froth! Dregs! Dirt! as you rightly re- 
 mark. I won't have my boy associating 
 with such.' 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 117 
 
 'Leave your boy alone,' said M'Gee. 
 'He is a. boy, and does very well as he is. 
 You and I are men, and we'll make use of this 
 place which most of them don't know the 
 value of. Study the questions of the day, 
 give a lot of preparation to your speeches, 
 and speak every time the house sits. Force 
 'em to take account of you and you'll come 
 out top.' 
 
 ' I will,' said Mr Binney, now greatly 
 excited. ' I can come out top if I want 
 to. I know I can. You and I will be 
 carried down to posterity, M'Gee, as two 
 of the greatest Presidents the Union has 
 ever had. To-day's Monday. To-morrow 
 I speak on the vaccination question. I don't 
 take any interest in it, but I'll get the 
 subject up thoroughly in the meantime, and 
 my speech will surprise them.' 
 
 And so Mr Binney changed his social 
 aspirations, and wrote long letters to Mrs 
 Higginbotham describing the acclamations 
 with which he was received when he rose 
 to speak at the Union, and painting in 
 vivid colours the honours paid to the occu- 
 pant of the President's chair, that chair 
 which had been filled by so many illustrious 
 men. 
 
118 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 He and M'Gee spoke every Tuesday in 
 that term. M'Gee was intolerably dog- 
 matic, metaphysical and long-winded, always 
 heard the secretary's bell ring before he had 
 half finished his argument, and invariably 
 emptied the house of all but the long- 
 suffering officials whenever he rose to 
 his feet. Mr Binney as surely filled it. He 
 was a wind-bag, but a wind-bag who de- 
 lighted his audience in the same way as a 
 monkey on an organ is a source of ap- 
 preciation not so much for its innate humour 
 as for the unstudied expression of its per- 
 sonality. It was quite true that Mr Binney 
 roused the applause of the assembly. The 
 incipient statesmen lolling on the benches 
 or writing notes on their knees or strolling 
 up to have a word with the President in 
 his seat of state, cheered him on, laughed 
 uproariously at his witticisms as well as at 
 his studied and serious periods, and could 
 never haVe enough of him. It was a long 
 time since any speaker at the Union had 
 amused his audience so well, and he was 
 in the seventh heaven of delight at his 
 popularity until the elections for the officers 
 at the end of the term, when both he and 
 M'Gee stood for the committee, and ap- 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 119 
 
 peared at the bottom of the list, M'Gee with 
 thirty votes and Mr Binney with six. This 
 was a serious blow to him, and he began to 
 realise that he had been looked upon as 
 a buffoon. 
 
 But before this other things had hap- 
 pened. Although debarred from the society 
 of those with whom he had at first tried 
 to ally himself, Mr Binney had con- 
 tracted many acquaintanceships with men 
 of his own year and others who did not 
 place the value of their friendship very 
 high. The boys fresh from school who 
 had come up at the same time as himself 
 looked upon him as a great joke, ate his 
 breakfasts and luncheons and occa,sional 
 dinners, and asked him to their own in 
 return. As he showed himself anxious to 
 be considered one of themselves, they 
 obliged him, with perhaps more familiarity 
 and slappings on the back than they usually 
 made use of to one another. But Mr 
 Binney enjoyed, it and felt he was getting 
 on famously. He gi:eatly appreciated the 
 tales of daring which freshmen Ipve to tell 
 one another, about exciting runs from 
 avenging Proctprs, and smart, one-sided 
 conversations with Deans, in which the 
 
]20 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 freshman is always represented as using such 
 witty and convincing arguments that the 
 Dean can only sit and listen, and is glad 
 to get rid of him at last at any price if he 
 will only allow the management of the 
 college to remain in its present inefficient 
 hands a little longer. Mr Binney had not 
 as yet emulated any of these deeds of 
 daring, for he still looked upon the authori- 
 ties with considerable awe, and was turning 
 his attention for the most part towards 
 getting his work ready for the first part of 
 the Little-go and maintaining his reputa- 
 tion at the Union. But he thought them 
 very fine for all that, and it was not long 
 before he fell. 
 
 Among his fellow - freshmen was one, 
 Brandon, a Rugby football-player, who had 
 once or twice played for the University. 
 He was not a ' blue ' yet, but he was the 
 next best thing to it, and Mr Binney 
 cultivated his society in , the intervals of 
 his more serious pursuits. .Brandon had a 
 friend called Howden who was a 'blue,' 
 a great, noisy, good-natured, ignorant ox, 
 who was in constant danger of being sent 
 down for his numerous breaches of dis- 
 cipline. 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 121 
 
 Howden came into Brandon's rooms one 
 morning to fish for a dinner, his affairs 
 being in a chronic state of financial de- 
 pression. He used no unnecessary finesse 
 in stating his ends. 
 
 ' I've taken my name off hall to-night,* 
 he said, 'and don't know where to feed. 
 Got anything going. Brandy ? ' 
 
 ' I'm going to dine with Binney,' said 
 Brandon. 'You'd better come too.' 
 
 ' What ! that stuck-up ass ! ' said Howden. 
 ' Didn't know you knew him. No, thanks. 
 I don't mix with bloods.' 
 
 ' Oh, I don't mean Lucy Binney,' said 
 Brandon. ' I don't know him. The ban- 
 tam's my pal.' 
 
 ' What ! that little old man ! ' exclaimed 
 Howden. 'Whatever do you want to go 
 and dine with him for? He'll report you 
 to the dons if you make a row, and I 
 don't care for dining where I can't enjoy 
 myself.' 
 
 'My dear chap,' said Brandon, 'you can 
 make as much row as you like. He'll be 
 all the better pleased. He's a tremendous 
 little sportsman. He gives you the best 
 fizz and as much as you waint of it.' 
 
 'The deuce he does. All right, I'll come, 
 
122 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Brandy. I don't know him. I suppose 
 that don't matter.' 
 
 ' Not a bit,' said Brandon. ' I'll make 
 that all right. 19A Jesus Lane, eight 
 o'clock.' 
 
 •Right you are,' said Howden. 'Don't 
 forget. I shall turn up.' 
 
 Mr Binney was as pleased as Punch when 
 he learnt that he was at last going to be 
 honoured by the company of a 'blue,' and 
 made an excuse to write a note to Minshull 
 in which he casually mentioned that he 
 was expecting Howden, 'who plays back 
 for the 'Varsity,' to dinner that night. 
 
 Howden came and made himself agree- 
 able to his host. Mr Binney was delighted 
 to find that such a great man was not 
 inclined to stand on any ceremony. The 
 rest of the party were freshmen, who were 
 also inclined , to treat the great Howden 
 with deference, but in the course of the 
 dinner the deference vanished, and the 
 company got hilarious and on perfectly 
 good terms with one another. After dinner 
 they • ragged,' and played a little game of 
 'Soccer' with a sofa cushion, in the course 
 of which Mr Binney got the wind knocked 
 out of his body, and was not sorry when 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 12S 
 
 his landlord came up to inform him that the 
 chandelier in the room below had fallen 
 down. 
 
 ' Let's go round and rag old Tubby 
 Vane,' said Howden. 
 
 Vane was another football 'blue,' and 
 lived in college. So the party moved round 
 in a body to the New Court. Vane kept 
 on the third floor, and was out, so his 
 visitors were bafifled for the moment. 
 
 ' There's old Miniken keeps below,' said 
 Mr Binney, who was enjoying himself to 
 the full in this distinguished company. 
 ' Let's go and rag him' 
 
 Miniken was a Union light, a quiet 
 reading man, when he was not thundering 
 forth radical views in the debates. Mr 
 Binney did not know him very well, but 
 wished to display the brilliant Howden to 
 his astonished gaze. 
 
 'AH right,' said Howden. 'Never heard 
 of him, but I daresay he keeps very good 
 whisky. Come on.' 
 
 Miniken was sported. 
 
 ' He's skulking,' said Howden. ' Let's 
 kick his oak in.' 
 
 ' Hi ! Miniken ! Come out of that, 
 
124 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 you old beggar,' yelled Mr Binney ; but 
 all was silence. 
 
 Howden took a short run and kicked in 
 a panel. Mr Binney took a short run 
 at the same panel, and got his foot wedged. 
 When he had been extricated with un- 
 necessary violence by his companions, a 
 combined assault was made upon the oak, 
 which presently gave way. The rooms 
 were empty. 
 
 Howden turned up the lights and made 
 a search for something to drink, which 
 was unsuccessful, as Miniken was a teeto- 
 taller. Then they 'made hay' of his 
 rooms, and, after completely changing their 
 aspect, left, to avoid an interview with a 
 porter who was coming up the staircase 
 to see what the disturbance was about. 
 Mr Binney never doubted but that Miniken 
 would be quite as amused as themselves 
 when he came back, and not a little 
 flattered at receiving a visit from the 
 august Howden, if he found out who was 
 responsible for the altered appearance of 
 his apartments. » 
 
 When Miniken did return he was natur- 
 ally annoyed at the discovery of what had 
 taken place. He obtained from the porter 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 125 
 
 the names of his invaders, and sat down 
 and wrote a letter of complaint to the 
 Senior Dean. Then he put his room to 
 rights and went to bed. 
 
 In the meantime Mr Binney went home, 
 greatly pleased with his evening's enter- 
 tainment. Before retiring to rest he wrote 
 a full account of it to Mrs Higginbotham, 
 and expatiated on the popularity that must 
 accrue to him from having made a friend 
 of Howden, who, before parting from him, 
 had assured him that he was one of the 
 best fellows he had ever met, and that he 
 would stick by him and come and dine 
 with him whenever he liked. 
 
 The next day Mr Binney was requested 
 to call on the Junior Dean at a specified 
 hour. He did so with some inward 
 trepidation, and waited in the ante-room 
 where a secretary was at work, who in- 
 formed him that the Dean was engaged, 
 but would see him in a few minutes. 
 Presently steps were heard on the stair- 
 case, and to his surprise Lucius entered 
 the room. 
 
 ' Halloa ! you hauled too ? ' said the 
 little man with a sheepish grin. 'What 
 for?' 
 
126 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I don't know. Chapels, I suppose,' said- 
 Lucius, who had heard of his father's 
 escapade, and whose face was covered with 
 a deep blush. 
 
 ' I hope we shan't get gated,' said Mr 
 Binney. 'What are you going to say to 
 the old chap ? ' 
 
 Before Lucius had time to reply the 
 Dean's door opened, and Mr Binney was 
 summoned into the presence of the 'old 
 chap,' who had been in frocks when 
 ' Binney's Food for Poultry ' was first be- 
 coming known. 
 
 'Sit down, Mr Binney,' said the Dean, 
 who appeared unaccountably nervous. ' I 
 see you have not kept the requisite number 
 of chapels since the beginning of term. 
 Is there any reason for that? I see by 
 my list that you have not been once to 
 chapel on a Sunday.' 
 
 Mr Binney breathed a sigh of relief and 
 drew himself up. 
 
 • I prefer to attend my own place of 
 worship on the Sabbath,' he said, twisting 
 his cap by the tassel. 
 
 'Ah! you are perhaps a Nonconformist,' 
 said the Dean. 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 127 
 
 'I am,' said Mr Binfiey; 'and I'm not 
 ashamed of it.' 
 
 ' No reason to be, Mr Binney,' said the 
 Dean. ' I needn't trouble you any more 
 on that score then,' and he made a pencil 
 note on the paper before him. ' But there 
 is another matter,' he went on, 'which, I 
 confess, it surprises me to have to bring 
 before a man of your — er — standing. I 
 understand that you and some others broke 
 in the door of Mr Miniken's rooms last 
 night, and took most unwarrantable liberties 
 with his furniture. I could hardly believe 
 it, but I am assured that it is so.' 
 
 ' It was a mere freak, sir,' said Mr Binney 
 boldly. ' I went round with Howden — the 
 football blue — ' 
 
 'You needn't bring in anybody else's 
 name,' said the Dean. 
 
 'Well, we went round to call on — on 
 another football blue, but he was out, and 
 as old Miniken, who is a friend of mine, 
 happened to live below him, I said, " Let's 
 go and rouse him up." He was sported, 
 so we kicked in his oak for a lark. We 
 didn't mean any harm. Of course, I'm 
 quite willing to pay for repairing the 
 door.' 
 
1S8 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 The Dean passed his hand over his 
 mouth. 
 
 ' That you will have to do, of course, 
 you and the others between you,* he said. 
 ' But I may as well tell you, Mr Binney, 
 that we don't recognise such larks here. 
 If you want to behave like a troublesome 
 boy, you had better go somewhere else. 
 You are gated at eight for a fortnight, and 
 don't let me hear of any such piece of 
 folly again, or you won't get off so 
 easily.' 
 
 Mr Binney took himself off feeling rather 
 asha^ied, but still a little pleased with 
 himself, 'Gated at eight for a fortnight,' 
 he said, as he joined his son in the ante- 
 room, where Blathgowrie had also made 
 his appearance. 
 
 ' Serve you right, you little ass,' said 
 Blathgowrie as Lucius entered the presence 
 chamber, ' Now run along and play.' 
 
 ' You were not with your father, I think, 
 when the door in the New Court was broken 
 in?' said the Dean. 
 
 'No, I wasn't,' said Lucius shortly, his 
 face a deep red. 
 
 The Dean threw a quick glance at 
 him. 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 129 
 
 ' Is your father — ? ' he began, and then 
 stopped. 
 
 ' Off his head ? ' said Lucius. ' I don't 
 know. I never thought he was till he came 
 up here. I know / shall be, pretty soon, if 
 this goes on.' 
 
 ' I didn't mean that,' said the Dean, ' I 
 was going to ask if he intended to stop 
 here until he takes a degree.' 
 
 ' I suppose so, if he isn't sent down first,' 
 said Lucius bitterly. 
 
 The Dean could not disguise a smile. 
 ' Don't get downhearted about it, Binney,' 
 he said kindly, ' we've all got our little trials 
 to bear. One of mine is having continually 
 to ask undergraduates why they don't 
 come to chapel. I see you haven't kept 
 a single chapel this term. How is 
 that ? ' 
 
 ' I was afraid I might meet my father,* 
 said Lucius. 
 
 The Dean smiled again. 
 
 ' Your father has conscientious objections 
 to joining in our services,' he said, 'and 
 I'm afraid I couldn't accept that as an 
 excuse in any case. Have you been any- 
 where instead ? ' 
 
 'I go to King's sometimes.' 
 
 I 
 
ISO PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' Well, I think you had better come to 
 Trinity sometimes too in the future. Good- 
 night, Binney.' 
 
 His introduction to Howden was the 
 beginning of Mr Binney's fall from steadi- 
 ness. He soon made the acquaintance of 
 other athletes of similar character to 
 Howden, and was very proud of being seen 
 about with them. These accommodating 
 gentlemen had no sort of objection to his 
 being constantly in their company, so long 
 as he fed them generously and put no 
 check on their boisterous behaviour when 
 he was with them. And Mr Binney was 
 far from wishing to do this. The new 
 cap which he had bought under Lucius's 
 directions was soon exchanged for a very 
 old and battered one. Howden and all his 
 friends were rowdies, and Mr Binney in 
 his mild way became a rowdy too. 
 
 One Tuesday evening towards the end of 
 the term, Lucius found himself in the gallery 
 at the Union listening to a debate on the 
 motion : ' That this house views with alarm 
 the growing tyranny of University officials,' 
 and sat dejectedly through an uproariously 
 applauded speech from his father, in the 
 course of which Mr Binney inquired 'why 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 131 
 
 a fellow shouldn't smoke in cap and gown 
 if he wanted . to,' and was twice called 
 to order for alluding to 'the progginses.' 
 ' Come out of this ; it makes me sick,' he 
 said to his companion. They went out 
 and strolled slowly down Jesus Lane to 
 Edwards's billiard rooms, Opposite the 
 ' Pitt,' Mr Binney passed them with two 
 of his noisy friends, carrying his gown on 
 his arm. He did not notice them, nor a 
 Proctor who was coming along Park Street, 
 and Lucius had the gratification of seeing 
 his father stopped at the corner, and per- 
 emptorily ordered to put on his gown by 
 the Proctor, who might have' been some 
 twenty years younger than Peter. Mr 
 Binney did as he was told, taking off his 
 gown again when the Proctor had turned 
 his back, and was let into his lodgings 
 feeling himself the very devil of a fellow. 
 
 After his first escapade with Howden, 
 Mr Binney was a little upset by a letter 
 he received from Mrs Higginbotham in 
 answer to the one in which he had given 
 her an account of the proceedings. 
 
 'You must not let yourself be led away 
 by your high spirits,' wrote Mrs Higgin- 
 botham, 'and pray be careful that these 
 
132 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 new grand young friends you have made 
 do not lead you astray. • I should like 
 you to keep a go6d character with your, 
 masters and bring home a good report at 
 the end of the term. My dear father often 
 used to say that he would rather my 
 brothers won the conduct prize at school 
 than any other, and they always did so, 
 which pleased my father very much until 
 he discovered that they used to buy the 
 prizes themselves out of their very liberal 
 allowance of pocket money and write their 
 master's name in them, which was not 
 right, and earned them a whipping from 
 Mr Wilkinson who was at that time the 
 head of the Lewisham Academy for Young 
 Gentlemen, where they" were educated, as 
 well as another from my father, which they 
 told me was far the worse of the two, as I 
 can quite credit, because my dear father, 
 who made his own way in the world, had 
 been employed in early life in a furniture 
 warehouse, and amongst his duties was that 
 of beating carpets.' 
 
 Mr Binney wrote in answer that little 
 occurrences such as the one in which he 
 had taken part were common in Cambridge 
 and increased the fame of those who in- 
 
MR BINNEY SPEAKS AT THE UNION 133 
 
 augurated them, and rebuked Mrs Hig- 
 ginbotham for talking of his 'masters.' 
 'The 'Varsity is not a school, my dear 
 Martha,' wrote Mr Binney, 'and we are 
 allowed a great deal of freedom to amuse 
 ourselves as we please.' 
 
 Mr Binney and Lucius now saw very 
 little of one another, but before Mr Binney 
 had allied himself with Howden and his 
 crew, Lucius had paid him a visit one 
 afternoon and found a young; man with a 
 long, solemn face not unlike Minshull's 
 sitting on Mr Binney's sofa.. 
 
 ' Ah, Lucius,' said Mr Binney, ' I'm glad 
 you have come. This is yo!ur mother's cousin, 
 John Jermyn, whose father you may have 
 heard me speak of as a respected clergy- 
 man in Norfolk. John tells me he has 
 gained . a scholarship at Queens' and I am 
 very glad to hear it — ^very glad. It is 
 most laudable of him. We must go and 
 call on him when we have time. Let me 
 see, where is Queens' ? That little college 
 at the end of the Backs with a wooden 
 bridge, isn't it ? Quite so. A very nice 
 litde college indeed. I should have liked 
 to have been at Queens' myself if I hadn't 
 been at Trinity. Pity you couldn't come 
 
134, PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 « 
 
 to Trinity, John. However, we can't all be 
 at the best college, can we ? ' 
 
 After a little more patronage from his 
 uncle, John Jermyn took his leave. 
 
 'You must look that young fellow up, 
 Lucius,' said Mr Binney,' and he tells me his 
 sister Elizabeth is at Girton. They both 
 came up this term. A clever family. You 
 must go and call on her too — I believe it's 
 allowed — I don't care about going out 
 there myself. Their mother was a great 
 friend of your dear mother's when they 
 were girls together. We never saw much 
 of her after she was married, for her 
 husband held his head high, although I have 
 never heard that he was at Trinity or any 
 good college as a young man. It is our 
 turn to hold our heads high now, but you 
 must certainly call on John and Elizabeth, 
 and show them that we are not too proud 
 to recognise our relations.' 
 
 Lucius did call on John Jermyn soon 
 afterwards and asked him to lunch. The 
 two young men found they had very little in 
 common and the acquaintanceship dropped 
 after that. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE NEWNHAM GIRL 
 
 The morning hours in Cambridge are for 
 books, the afternoon for exercise, and the 
 evening for social intercourse. So, at least, 
 the majority of the undergraduate members 
 of the University regard them, and some- 
 times throw in an extra hour or two for 
 work between tea and dinner. Of course 
 there are those who work all the evening 
 as well as all the morning, and there are 
 others who do not work at all ; but the morn- 
 ing for lectures and books is a general rule, 
 and one that has few exceptions, however 
 squeezed up the morning may be between 
 late breakfast and early luncheon. If you 
 go into the Great Court of Trinity, let 
 us say about ten minutes to eleven in the 
 morning, you will find it, comparatively 
 speaking, deserted. Quite deserted it never 
 
136 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 is, unless in the dead hours of night, and 
 not always then ; but now its chief occu- 
 pants appear to be the bed-makers, who 
 empty their pails down the gratings, or 
 stand for a few minutes' gossip by their 
 respective staircases. Every now and then 
 an idler passes through in a leisurely 
 manner, or a don scurries across the grass 
 in a. terrible hurry. White-aproned cooks 
 from the college kitchens collect plate and 
 crockery from the various gyp-rooms and 
 carry them away in green boxes balanced 
 on their heads. Tradesmen's boys, their 
 baskets on their arms, pass from one stair- 
 case to another, quite unawed by their 
 surroundings, whistling as if their errands 
 were taking them down a street of num- 
 bered houses instead of to the studious 
 rooms of a venerable college, for centuries 
 devoted to learning. But of the under- 
 graduate life which is so busy in the courts 
 of a college at other times of the day 
 there is very little, for most undergraduates 
 are listening to lecturers or coaches, or 
 reading in their owi^ rooms. 
 
 But the hour strikes and everything is 
 changed. Men in gowns of blue or black, 
 with note - books under their arms, come 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 137 
 
 pouring out of the lecture-rooms into the 
 court. Interspersed with them are the 
 lecturers, laden with books, their long gowns 
 and ribbons flying ; and most curious of 
 all, little groups of girls stand about the 
 court waiting until it is time for another 
 lecturer to appear and dart hurriedly into 
 the room where his wisdom is to keep 
 them entranced for the next hour. How 
 horrified our grandfathers would have been 
 could they have pictured girls and men 
 sitting in the same lecture-room to-day, 
 and how incredulous, could they have 
 been told what a very little difference such 
 an unforeseen arrangement would make in 
 the daily life of their colleges. For the 
 women are already in Cambridge. They 
 have their own colleges, and if they have 
 not yet their own lecturers, they make very 
 good use of ours. And, strange to say, 
 nobody takes much notice of them, or 
 realises that they are there at all, except 
 when they form their little groups round 
 the college doorways, or when their names 
 are read out before those of the men in the 
 Senate House, *or when they want some- 
 thing which Cambridge with all its chivalry 
 is not quite prepared to give them. 
 
138 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 One such little group of girls was stand- 
 ing by the Trinity Chapel one bright 
 November morning in the first term of 
 Lucius's second year, waiting for the 
 learned gentleman who was to lecture to 
 them during the next hour on some 
 subject connected with the Classical 
 Tripos. The learned gentleman was a 
 little late and all the other lecturers had by 
 this time penned their flocks > and were 
 busily engaged in feeding, and in some 
 cases shearing them. The men who were 
 booked for the same lecture as the girls 
 were standing in twos and threes a little 
 distance away, or strolling up and down 
 the flagged pathways. At ten minutes past 
 the hour the lecturer was seen approaching 
 at a hurried pace from the direction of 
 Neville's Court, and a minute later, girls, 
 men, and lecturer had disappeared, and the 
 Great Court had settled down again to its 
 normal morning condition of dignified calm. 
 
 One of the girls was conspicuously at- 
 tractive. She wore a neat costume of blue 
 serge and a sailor hat tilted a little forward 
 on her brown hair. Hef eyes were blue 
 and innocent, her little nose had a mis- 
 chievous tilt to it, and her mouth was like 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 139 
 
 Cupid's bow. These last named attractions 
 were not visible to Lucius Binney, who 
 sat at the corner of a desk a few rows 
 behind her; but he had a good view of 
 the soft curves of a delicate tinted cheek, 
 and a little shell-like ear perched coquet- 
 tishly underneath the wavy brown hair, 
 and to do him justice, these beauties were 
 not unappreciated by him, for he paid a 
 good deal more attention to them than to 
 the dulcet tones of the learned lecturer. It 
 was now about the middle of the Michaelmas 
 term, and Lucius had already sat in the 
 same corner and looked at the same girl 
 three times a week since the beginning of 
 term, eleven times in all, and each time he 
 looked his sense of the beautiful was 
 more satisfied than before. Besides minor 
 varieties the girl sometimes wore another 
 costume of grey-green cloth and a felt 
 hat to match, with a woodcock's tip in 
 it. Lucius was like the lover in Tenny- 
 son's poem who speaks of his lady's 
 dresses : — 
 
 ' Now I know her but in two, 
 Nor can pronounce upon it, 
 If one should ask me whether 
 The habit, hat and feather, 
 
140 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Or the frock and gipsy bonnet 
 Be the neater and completer ; 
 For nothing could be sweeter 
 Than maiden Maud in either.' 
 
 He sometimes spoke of her to Dizzy, who 
 attended the same lectures, whose admira- 
 tion of the girl was aesthetically great, but 
 had not succeeded in penetrating his feelings. 
 These two would hang about the court, 
 chatting unconcernedly together, while she 
 went out through the Great Gate with her 
 companions. After the first week^ when 
 Luciu^'s appreciation of her charms had 
 begun to bite a little, she somj^times 
 gave him the merest glance . out of the 
 corners of her blue eyes as she passed 
 him. There seemed to be a trace of 
 amusement lurking irf the glance, and 
 Lucius understood that his admiration, 
 although by no means obtrusive, had been 
 observed — and dared he hope in some 
 measure accepted? — by its object. 
 
 'Oh, Dizzy, old man, she really is — that 
 girl 1 ' sighed Lucius, after silently watch- 
 ing the blue serge coat and skirt and 
 the little sailor hat disappear round the 
 corner into Trinity Street. 'She really 
 ts — 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 141 
 
 What she really was did not transpire, 
 but Dizzy quite understood and agreed. 
 
 ' She's a topper,' said Dizzy. ' I can't 
 say fairer than that. She's a topper.' 
 
 ' Have you noticed those little fluffy curls 
 on her neck ? ' inquired Lucius. ' With 
 most girls they stick out straight and look 
 as if they ought to be tucked in some- 
 where. But hers don't.' 
 
 'Why don't you take a snap-shot at 
 them with a Kodak in the lecture-room?' 
 suggested Dizzy. 
 
 Lucius did buy a Kodak after this, and 
 stayed away from the charmed lecture-room 
 one morning with a heavy heart, in order to 
 take photographs of the girl as she went 
 through the court to and from the lecture. 
 He ensconced himself in a friend's rooms on 
 the kitchen staircase, the nearest position he 
 could gain, for he did not want her to see 
 him standing in the court ; but after press- 
 ing the button feverishly six or eight times, 
 and waiting impatiently for three weeks 
 until the other people had done the rest, 
 he was rewarded with several curious 
 pictures of fog effects, only one of which 
 showed a scene which could be recognised 
 as the Great Court, with a few dark little 
 
142 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 spots some miles away, which Lucius in- 
 terpreted as the girl and her companions 
 leaving the college, but did not gain much 
 satisfaction from the possession of them 
 even with the help of a magnifying glass. 
 
 The girl was a Newnhamite (hideous 
 word !) Lucius and Dizzy knew that much, 
 though they could not discover her name. . 
 She must have known theirs, for the 
 lecturer was in the habit of calling th6m 
 over after each lecture. Unfortunately he 
 omitted to do so in the case of the lady 
 students. 
 
 ' It's just my luck, you know,' said 
 Lucius disconsolately. ' I've got a cousin 
 of sorts at Girton. I ought to have looked 
 her up before now — I promised the governor 
 I would — and I'd have done it pretty quick, 
 you bet, if she had had the sense to go to 
 the other place.' 
 
 'What is she like?' asked Dizzy, 
 
 ' I don't know, I've never seen her. 
 She is a sister of my cousin at Queens',' 
 
 'Oh, I should look her up if I were 
 you. She may be pretty,' said Dizzy, 
 
 ' Have you seen my cousin at Qriteens' ? ' 
 
 Dizzy had, and acknowledged that the 
 inferences were not encouraging. 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIllL 14,3 
 
 ' Still there's no telling,' he said, ' She 
 may be a regular topper.' 
 
 ' Her father's a country parson,' said 
 Lucius, 'and she has never been anywhere. 
 I don't see the fun of tramping out to 
 Girton to see a fat girl with spectacles.' 
 
 'And a space between her belt and the 
 top of her skirt with hooks and eyes 
 showing,' added Dizzy. ' No, I agree with 
 you it isn't good enough, although, of 
 course, she may be a topper, you can't 
 tell.' 
 
 Lucius did bicycle out to Girton before 
 the end of the term along a straight and 
 appallingly hideous road, only to find Miss 
 Jermyn ' not at home ' at the end of it, 
 and then dismissed his cousin Elizabeth 
 and Girton College from his mind, and in- 
 dulged himself in roseate dreams of the 
 Newnham girl instead. Although he was 
 constantly plunged in shame at the be- 
 haviour of his father, and was gradually 
 growing poorer and poorer as time went 
 on, owing to Mr Binney's relentless views on 
 the subject of filial conduct, his first term 
 at Cambridge in the companionship of his 
 father was not altogether an unhappy one. 
 
 At the end of it Mr Binney went in for the 
 
144 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 first part of his Little-go and failed ignomin- , 
 iously, for his work had greatly deteriorated 
 since he had been admitted to the friendship 
 of Howden and the rest. But the disquiet- 
 ing news did not reach him until he had left 
 Cambridge at the beginning of the Christ- 
 mas vacation, and that blow was not added 
 to the one caused by his failure at the Union, 
 and another which befel him at the end 
 of term in the shape of an interview with 
 his Tutor. 
 
 Mr Rimington looked grave as Mr 
 Binney entered his presence, and shook 
 hands with him without his usual smile. 
 
 'Sit down, please, Mr Binney,' he said. 
 'I didn't send for you when I heard about 
 that foolish- affair in Mr Minikin's rooms, 
 because I thought you must have taken 
 part in it against your will, and I couldn't 
 but believe that nothing of the sort would 
 happen again. But I learn, to my surprise, 
 that you seem to have made a — a speciality 
 of that sort of behaviour, and however un- 
 pleasant the duty may be, I must remon- 
 strate seriously with you on the course 
 you have adopted here.' 
 
 Mr Binney's mouth was dry. Mr Rim- 
 ington's tone was more conciliatory than 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 145 
 
 that of the Junior Dean, but the latter, 
 after his first few words, had treated him 
 just like any other undergraduate, while 
 Mr Rimington addressed him as a middle- 
 aged gentleman who had been making a 
 fool of himself, and Mr Binney disliked this 
 above all things. 
 
 Mr Rimington paused, and Mr Binney 
 felt he was expected to speak. 
 
 ' I was gated for that affair of Miniken's, 
 sir,' he said with a gulp, 'and the subject 
 ought to be at an end. It was foolish, 
 perhaps, but it was all done in good part, 
 and I had no idea the man would make 
 such a fuss about it. Since then I am not 
 aware of having done anything to bring 
 my conduct under the notice of the officials 
 of the college.' 
 
 Mr Rimington heard him out in grave 
 silence, 'You have done nothing that has 
 actually had to be punished,' he said, 'but 
 if you imagine, Mr Binney, that your 
 conduct has not come very seriously under 
 the notice of the officials of the college, you 
 are mistaken. Behaviour that would not 
 call for much remark from a boy of eighteen 
 or nineteen is a different matter in a man 
 of your age. For one thing it is de- 
 
 K 
 
146 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 moralising in the extreme to the under- 
 graduates with whom you associate. It 
 is a very disagreeable task to have to 
 point this out to you, and I must- say 
 that it surprises me exceedingly that there 
 should be any necessity for my having to 
 do so.' He paused so as to give Mr 
 Binney a chance of speaking, who, how- 
 ever, took no advantage of his opportunity, 
 but sat gazing on the carpet. His attitude 
 seemed to show that he was taking his 
 Tutor's remonstrances to heart, but a slight 
 frown on his brow and the set of his 
 mouth belied that assumption. 
 
 ' Have you anything to say, Mr Binney ? ' 
 asked the Tutor. 
 
 ' I should like to hear what you have got 
 to say first, sir,' said Mr Binney. 'Then 
 I will give utterance to my opinions.' 
 
 'Very well,' s&id Mr Rimingtori. 'Then 
 I had better say what I have got to say 
 in as few words and as strongly as pos- 
 sible. When we talked over your coming 
 up here as an undergraduate in the spring, 
 I pointed out that it would hardly be fair 
 to your son to be under your constant 
 supervision, and I pointed out other reasons 
 why I thought you should reconsider your 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 147 
 
 decision. You did not agree with me, and 
 the objections were not strong enough to 
 induce the college to refuse your applica- 
 tion when you persisted in making it. No 
 man in his senses could have foreseen 
 that at the end of your first term, your son, 
 who has been here over a year, should 
 bear a very high character in the college, 
 while you, his father, should be giving us 
 a great deal of trouble in matters of con- 
 duct. If that could have been foreseen I 
 need scarcely say that we should not have 
 admitted you.' 
 
 ' Now, look here, Mr Rimington,' said 
 Mr Binney, with his most uncompromis- 
 ing air. ' I take great objection to your 
 manner of speaking to me. My son I 
 refuse to discuss. As far as I myself am 
 concerned, you have acknowledged that with 
 one exception, for which I have paid the 
 appointed penalty, my conduct has not 
 been such as to have called for any special 
 remark, supposing I had been of the age 
 of the ordinary undergraduate witli whom 
 you have to deal. I take my stand on that 
 statement. These references to my age are 
 offensive to me. I am here in the position 
 of an ordinary undergraduate, and I demand 
 
148 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 fair treatment as such. That puts the 
 matter in a nut-shell.' 
 
 Mr Rimington kept his temper. 'You 
 seem to forget, Mr Binney,' he said quietly, 
 'that no ordinary undergraduate would be 
 permitted to speak to me in those terms. You 
 take advantage of your age, which I think is 
 about the same as mine, to address me 
 as an equal, but wish it to be ignored en- 
 tirely in my estimation of your behaviour. 
 That, of course, is an unreasonable demand, 
 and one that I cannot entertain. I sent 
 for you to remonstrate with you on the 
 course that you have seen fit to adopt. 
 But as you have taken my remonstrance 
 so badly, I must point out to you that 
 my powers go far beyond a mere remon- 
 strance, and if you are incapable of seeing 
 yourself in the wrong and mending your 
 ways, the college will have to think very 
 seriously of asking you to take your name 
 off the books.' 
 
 'Then, sir,' said Mr Binney, now very 
 angry, ' I have to inform you that I shall 
 not comply with the request of the college. 
 I am here, and here I shall remain. The 
 treatment I have received I consider in- 
 famous. I demand to be let alone. I shall 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 149 
 
 Keep on the right side of the law in the 
 future, as I have done in the past, and I 
 challenge — I dare the college to touch me. 
 Let me remind you, Mr Rimington, that 
 this University has been thrown open — 
 yes, open, sir. The old iniquitous Test Acts 
 have been done away. One man has as 
 much right here as another. If I am in- 
 terfered with fufther, I will raise such a 
 storm throughout the country, that not 
 only Trinity College but Cambridge Uni- 
 versity shall tremble in its shoes. I will 
 wish you good-morning, sir ; and let me 
 advise you to take my words to heart,' 
 and with this Mr Binney took himself out 
 of his Tutor's rooms, and went straight round 
 to the Union to write a fiery letter of indig- 
 nation to the Daily Chronicle, unmasking 
 the unwarrantable interference with the 
 liberties of the subject practised by the 
 authorities of a ' well-known college in a 
 well - known University.' His letter was 
 not inserted. So the storm he had threat- 
 ened to raise delayed its raging for the 
 present. 
 
 After his departure, Mr Rimington 
 pondered for some time on his course of 
 
150 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 action, and then wrote the following 
 letter : — 
 
 ' Dear Mr Binney, — I enclose the exeat 
 which you will require in order to enable 
 you to leave Cambridge for the Christmas 
 vacation. I have dated it for to-morrow. 
 You will, I think, on consideration regret your 
 manner towards me in our conversation ot 
 this morning, and I shall be glad to receive 
 any expressions of regret you may feel inclined 
 to make. I must also repeat my statement 
 that it is subversive of all discipline in the 
 college that a gentleman in your peculiar 
 position should constitute himself a leader in 
 disorderly behaviour, arid warn you that if 
 such behaviour is persisted in you will not 
 be allowed to remain here. — Yours sincerely, 
 
 Robert Rimington. 
 
 ' Let 'em try to remove me, that's all,' 
 said Mr Binney, when he received this 
 very moderate communication. ' They'll be 
 sorry for it all their lives. Exeat dated 
 for to-morrow ! What does be mean ? I 
 don't want to go down to-morrow. A 
 piece of impertinence ! I shan't go.' 
 
 But on consideration Mr Binney did go 
 
THE NEWNHAM GIRL 151 
 
 down on the appointed day, and having 
 arrived at a more reasonable frame of mind 
 after a few <iay's residence in Russell 
 Square, wrote to Mr Rimington that he 
 regretted that he had been led in the heat 
 of the moment to express himself in a 
 way he could not justify, and that, while 
 he still took his stand on a position which, 
 he thought, would prove to be unassailable, 
 there was no reason why he and Mr Rim- 
 ington should not agree to differ in a per- 
 fectly friendly and gentlemanly way. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER AND RECEIVES A 
 REBUFF 
 
 Mr Binney took advantage of his unexpect- 
 edly early arrival in town for the Christmas 
 vacation to pay a surprise visit to Mrs 
 Higginbotham. He found that good lady 
 seated by her drawing-room fire as on the 
 occasion of that momentous visit with 
 the account of which this history opens. 
 With the glad cry 'Peter!' 'Martha!' 
 these two ardent souls were locked in a 
 close embrace, which afforded great gratifi- 
 cation to themselves, and not a little to the 
 parlourrmaid, who had delayed her exit 
 in order to satisfy herself as to the warmth 
 of their greeting. 
 
 ' My dear Peter,' said Mrs Higginbotham, 
 ' I did not expect to see you for another 
 two days at least. How is it you have 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 153 
 
 managed to come home for your holidays so 
 early ? ' 
 
 'We don't have holidays at Cambridge, 
 Martha,' said Mr Binney ; 'we call them 
 vacations. And of course we can come 
 away when we like — that is if the dons will 
 let us.' 
 
 'Well, it is a very agreeable surprise 
 to see you, Peter,' said Mrs Higginbotham. 
 'But how you have altered! Why, you 
 have cut off your beautiful whiskers ! ' 
 
 'Yes,' said Mr Binney. 'Fellows don't 
 wear whiskers at Cambridge. It is con- 
 sidered old-fashioned. How do you like the 
 change, Martha ? ' 
 
 ' I don't know,' said Mrs Higginbotham, 
 doubtfully. ' But you should have asked 
 my leave first, you know, Peter, before 
 taking a step like that,' she added, 
 archly. 
 
 Mr Binney enjoyed this. He became 
 facetious, affected to dig Mrs Higginbotham 
 in the ribs, and jocularly cried, ' Oh ! you 
 saucy little kipper!' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham was scandalised. 
 
 'Peter!' she exclaimed, 'surely you 
 forget yourself.' 
 
 •Pooh! Martha,' said Mr Binney, 'don't 
 
154 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 be old-fashioned. 'That's the way young 
 men go on now-a-days.' 
 
 'Is it?' said Mrs Higginbotham, only 
 half reassured. ' I don't think I much like 
 it. It isn't respectful. But I'm so pleased 
 to see you back, Peter, that I don't mind 
 how you go on. And you certainly do 
 look younger, somehow — I suppose it is 
 from cutting off your whiskers. But do 
 you know I think it makes you look smaller 
 too.' 
 
 * Ah ! ' said Peter, ' I used to be sorry I 
 was rather short. I'm not now. It's a distinct 
 score. I've got a great piece of news for 
 you, Martha. I'm going to steer the first 
 Lent boat next term, if all goes well. The 
 first boat captain told me the other day 
 that I was the most useful man they'd got, 
 if I didn't play the fool and kept my head ; 
 he said if I steered well in the Lents I 
 should probably steer the first boat, in the 
 Mays'; and that means, Martha, that next 
 year I shall very likely be cox of the 
 'Varsity and get my blue. Think of that 
 now!' 
 
 *Lor!' said Mrs Higginbotham, 'And 
 very nice too, I'm sure. But why are you 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 155 
 
 wearing a tie with the Oxford colours in- 
 stead of the Cambridge. 
 
 ' Oh dear ! Martha ! ' exclaimed Peter with 
 some irritation. ' Will you never understand 
 these things "i These are the First Trinity- 
 colours. Nobody can wear the Cambridge 
 colours unless he's a blue. And I'm not a 
 blue yet.' 
 
 ' Aren't you ? ' said Mrs Higginbotham. 
 ' Well, never mind, I'm sure you will be 
 some day if you do your lessons^-I mean 
 your work well, and satisfy the Professors. 
 And now, Peter, there is one little thing that 
 I wish to speak to you about. That time 
 you got into trouble. I was very grieved 
 to hear about that. My poor dear father 
 always used to say — ' 
 
 'Oh, bother your father, Martha!' ex- 
 claimed Peter. ' What did he know about 
 life at the 'Varsity? I told you in my 
 letter that nobody at Cambridge thinks 
 anything of a lark like that except the fusty 
 old dons — and who cares for what they 
 think ? ' 
 
 ' It isn't polite of you to say, " bother my 
 father," Peter,' rejoined Mrs Higginbotham 
 with some warmth. ' He was a very 
 good father to me, and I never gave him 
 
156 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 a moment's trouble till the day of his death. 
 I did think that after the lesson you had 
 received — being locked into your bedroom 
 every night at eight o'clock as I gathered 
 from your letter — that you would have seen 
 the folly of such behaviour. But I am sorry 
 to see from this paper which you sent me 
 the other day, that this is not the case.' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham took up from the 
 table at her side one of those ephemeral 
 journals which come and go at the Univer- 
 sities with almost as much frequency as 
 the successive generations of undergraduates 
 who produce ^ them. This one was called 
 The New Court Chronicle, and had been 
 started by one of Mr Binney's Rugby foot- 
 ball acquaintances. In it was a weekly 
 letter in imitation of those that appear in 
 some of the London Society papers, and one 
 paragraph ran as follows : — 
 
 ' Millie has come up here for a week to see 
 something of her younger brother, Arthur, 
 who has 'entered at Trinity, and is quite 
 a persona grata with the " smart " set at 
 that most chic of all the colleges. He 
 took his brother-in-law to a dinner at Mr 
 *' Peter " Binney's rooms one night, and 
 Sir George came away quite charmed with 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 157 
 
 the verve and dlan of his diminutive 
 host. Sir George says that there, was not 
 so much wine drunk as in his days at 
 Cambridge, but what there, was, was of ex- 
 cellent quality and seemed to go further. 
 Little Mr Binney insisted on making a 
 speech, and caused uproarious merriment 
 by remarking that he saw double the number 
 of friends he had ' invited, but he was 
 pleased to welcome them all, and as many 
 more of the same sort as liked to come. 
 Owing to the sultriness of the weather, 
 Mr Binney was unfortunately seized with 
 a slight indisposition before the party broke 
 up, but he was comfortably settled in bed 
 by his guests before they left, and Millie 
 met him in Jesus Lane the next morning 
 looking as sprightly as ever, and had a 
 short conversation with him, in which he 
 humorously remarked that he had never 
 turned his back upon don or devil 
 yet.' 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham opened the paper and 
 pointed to this paragraph. 
 
 ' It was indeed a grief to me to read that, 
 Peter,' she said, ' and how you could send it 
 me of your own accord passes my comprehen- 
 sion. Inattention to study I can overlook, 
 
158 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 and thoughtless levity of conduct I can 
 pardon — but drunkenness/ Oh, Peter, I 
 never thought it would come to that' 
 
 Mr Binney had been getting very red 
 during the passing of this exordium on his 
 conduct 
 
 'Pooh, Martha!' he burst out at last. 
 • How could I have known that you would 
 take it seriously. You don't think all that 
 rubbish is true, do you? It is all made 
 up and put in for a lark. I sent it to you 
 because — ^well, because I thought it would 
 please you to see how popular and well- 
 known I have become in Cambridge. If 
 you don't like it, throw it in the fire.' 
 
 ' But if it is not true, Peter,' said Mrs 
 Higginbotham — 'and I'm sure I'm very 
 much relieved to hear that it is not — why 
 do you allow such things to be put into 
 a paper? It distinctly says you "saw 
 double," and I have always understood 
 that to be an unfailing sign of — of tipsiness. 
 I call it disgraceful taking away a gentle- 
 man's character like that. Supposing it 
 should come round to Dr Toller's ears, or 
 some others of the congregation? And 
 you a deacon, too, and so much looked 
 up to.' 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 159 
 
 ' Dr Toller ! ' echoed Mr Binney. with 
 much scorn. 'What do I care for Dr 
 Toller ? Hes not a 'Varsity man ; he 
 doesn't understand these things.' 
 
 ' He has got a University' degree,' said 
 Mrs Higginbotham. ' Indeed, two degrees; 
 He is always put in the bills as Rev. 
 Samuel Toller, B.A., D.D. 
 
 'That's nothing,' said Mr Binney. He 
 wasn't at Oxford or Cambridge. The rest 
 don't count.' 
 
 'Oh, don't they! I didn't know,' said 
 Mrs Higginbotham. 'But, at anyrate, I 
 shouldn't allow those things to be said 
 of you, Peter, especially as they are not 
 true. It "might get about, and I shouldn!t 
 like that. Now, tell me about some of 
 your speeches at the Young Men's Christian 
 Association. I am so glad you — ' 
 
 'The Union, Martha! The Union!' 
 shouted Mr Binney, annoyed beyond bounds 
 at Mrs Higginbotham 's consistent inability 
 to grasp the true inwardness of University 
 life. 
 
 'Well, the Union then,' said Mrs Higgin- 
 botham. ' It's the same thing, isn't it } ' 
 
 ' No, it's not the same thing,' said Mr 
 Binney, and then he calmed " down and 
 
160 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 gave Mrs Higginbotham a' full and true 
 account of the building up of his forensic 
 ambitions, and their sad and disastrous 
 downfall. Mrs Higginbotham was full of 
 sympathy and womanly consolation. 
 
 'Ah, Martha,' said Mr Binney at last, 
 'what a treasure I have gained in your 
 love ! My barque will never suffer ship- 
 wreck so long as the haven of your true 
 woman's breast is open to it.' 
 
 ' I trust not,' said Mrs Higginbotham. 
 ' And now let us have tea up. I expect 
 Elizabeth will have toasted some muffins.' 
 
 Lucius arrived home the next afternoon, 
 and brought Dizzy with him for a few 
 days. The point of view from which he 
 had hitherto regarded his father had been 
 so rudely altered by Mr Binney's behaviour 
 during his first term at Cambridge that 
 Lucius' had been unable to face the ordeal 
 of the first few days alone with him in 
 Russell Square. 
 
 'You know what the governor is, Dizzy,' 
 Jie had said. ' It won't be so bad if you 
 are there for a bit, and we can have a 
 good time. I've got some money left, 
 although my allowance has been getting 
 smaller and smaller ever since I came up, 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER l6i 
 
 to Cambridge. We needn't be at home 
 more than we like, and we can go about 
 a bit and see plays.' 
 
 ' I should like to come, old man,' said 
 Dizzy. ' I've got a bit of splosh laid by, 
 too. I'm an economical beggar and I've 
 let my bills stand over till next term. We'll 
 have a rare old time. I suppose your 
 governor won't want to go about with us, 
 will he?' 
 
 ' I shouldn't be surprised,' said Lucius. 
 ' You can never tell what nonsense he'll 
 be up to now.' 
 
 ' Oh, well, we must make the best of 
 it, if he does,' said Dizzy cheerfully. ' He's 
 not such bad fun if you take him in the 
 right way, and I can always get on with 
 him very well.' 
 
 ' He's not your father,' said Lucius. 
 
 Dizzy considerately gave thanks inaud- 
 ibly. 
 
 But when they reached Russell Square 
 they found that a change for the better 
 had set in in Mr Binney's behaviour. The 
 responsibilities of a householder and the 
 head of a large business-house had tem- 
 porarily settled down on him again. He 
 went to the City every day for an hour 
 
162 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 or two, and spent a good deal of his spare 
 time in the company of Mrs Higginbotham, 
 leaving the young men pretty well to their 
 own devices. He had been brought up 
 to regard theatre going as injurious to 
 the morals, and, while he did not attempt 
 to prevent Lucius from enjoying himself 
 in his own way, the remains of an early 
 prejudice prevtented his accompanying him. 
 So Dizzy spent a pleasant week with his 
 friend, and as he was always cheery and 
 obliging from morning to night, Mr Binney 
 was delighted with his company. 
 
 One evening towards the end of Dizzy's 
 visit there was a little dinner-party in 
 Russell Square. The guests were Mrs 
 Higginbotham, Dr Toller, his wife and 
 daughter, and a sprightly middle-aged lady ' 
 called Miss Tupper, who had been a friend 
 of the late Mrs Binney, whose place' she 
 was generally supposed to be desirous of 
 filling. Mrs Higginbotham and she were 
 very cordial to one another when they met, 
 but there was a delicate sub-acid flavour 
 about their conversation which hardly 
 seemed in accord with the indelible sweet- 
 ness of their respective smiles. 
 
 Mr Binney sat at the head of the table 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 163 
 
 with Mrs Toller on his right, and Mrs Hig- 
 ginbotham on his left, Lucius at the foot, 
 flanked by Miss Tupper and Miss Toller. 
 'The Reverend Doctor and Dizzy faced 
 one another. ♦ 
 
 'And how do you like University life, 
 Mr . Binney ? ' inquired Mrs Toller sweetly, 
 when her husband had recited an impromptu 
 grace, and infused as much originality into 
 it as possible, and the company had 
 settled themselves down to soup and agree- 
 able conversation. 
 
 Mr Binney, of course, was anxious to 
 talk about Cambridge, but he did not 
 quite like a question which drew attention 
 to his novice state. 
 
 'Oh, all University men like University 
 life,^. Mrs Toller,' he replied. ' Though, of 
 course, some are not in a position to ap- 
 preciate it as much as others.' 
 
 'Oh, Mr Binney, I'm sure you are in a 
 position to .appreciate it,' said Miss Tupper 
 gushingly. 
 
 ' I hope I am, Miss Tiipper,' said Mr 
 Binney. 
 
 'Who are the people who do not 
 appreciate it ? ' asked Mrs Toller. This 
 gave Mr Binney the opportunity he wanted 
 
164 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 of expatiating on the prestige to be gained 
 by membership of a good college, and a 
 wide circle of distinguished athletic acquain- 
 tances. Mrs Toller seemed much interested 
 and put many question^ in a tone of in- 
 nocent inquiry, which had the effect of 
 drawing Mr Binney into a somewhat fuller 
 account than he would otherwise have 
 given of his manner of life during the 
 past term. Miss Tupper was enchanted 
 with everything she heard. She even 
 clapped her hands. 
 
 'Oh, do tell me more, Mr Binney,' she 
 cried. ' It is all so young. I simply love 
 to hear about it. Lucius, why don't you 
 back Mr Binney up ? I believe you are 
 a very wicked boy when you're at college, 
 for all you are so quiet at home. Oh, 
 fie!' 
 
 Lucius made no reply to this sally. The 
 old feeling towards his father which had 
 been coming back slowly during the last 
 few days was disappearing again as the 
 conversation developed, and he ate his 
 'dinner in shamed silence. Miss Tupper 
 became more and more sprightly, but she 
 devoted herself to Mr Binney although 
 she was two places away from him. She 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 165 
 
 was the daughter of a solicitor, while Mrs 
 Toller's father had been a bookseller, and 
 she wished to show that lady that the 
 manners of the upper classes possess a 
 greater breadth and freedom than those 
 of the people with whom Mrs Toller had 
 mixed all her life. In fact she wished to 
 shock her a little. Mrs Higginbotham 
 was very anxious that Mr Binney should 
 not give Dr Toller reason to, suppose that 
 his habits had become at all loose during 
 his short residence at Cambridge, and 
 tried to bring the conversation down to 
 the moi-e sober aspects of University life, 
 but the Doctor was enjoying a very good 
 dinner and was inclined to be tolerant. 
 He even told some anecdotes of his own 
 salad days when he had been a student 
 at Homerton College, but the mild devilry 
 of his proceedings took such a long time 
 to narrate, and amounted to so very little 
 when it was reduced to speech, that his 
 anecdotes fell very flat Mrs Higginbotham 
 gave them rather more than their due 
 share of appreciation, but Mr Binney lis- 
 tened with ill - concealed impatience, and 
 instantly capped each story with a much 
 more highly-spiced one of his own, while 
 
166 PETER BJNNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Miss Tupper actually had the temerity to 
 snub, the great man, which exasperated 
 his wife to such an extent that she 
 half made up her mind to bring her 
 unseemly conduct before the next church 
 meeting. 
 
 Under cover of this conversation Dizzy 
 had been trying to get on terms with his 
 neighbour. Miss Toller was very young 
 and very shy, but undoubtedly pretty. 
 Dizzy, that diiscriminating critic of feminine 
 beauty, had run his eye cursorily over 
 her upon his first appearance. ' Pity she 
 ain't turned out properly,' he had 'said to 
 Lucius. ' She's worth it. I should like to. 
 get her a proper evening dress instead 
 of that dowdy thing, and take her some- 
 where to get her hair waved. I could turn 
 her into a regular topper in no time. Give 
 her a few lessons on how to walk, and 
 teach her to hold her hands properly and. 
 ' you wouldn't know her when I'd finished 
 with her.' ' ^ 
 
 ' Shouldn't want to ; you'd only spoil her,' 
 
 said Lucius. ' She's a nice enough little 
 
 thing as it is. I've danced with her at 
 
 children's parties ever since I can re- 
 
 ■ member.' 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 167 
 
 'Come now,' said Dizzy, 'you wouldn't 
 like to see the Newnham beauty turned 
 out like that of an evening.' 
 
 ' That's different,' said Lucius, with a 
 blush. 
 
 Poor little Miss Toller would have sunk 
 into the earth with shame if she had heard , 
 herself thus discussed. , This was her first 
 dinner-party and she had looked forward 
 to it with tremulous but pleasurable antici- 
 pation. She was going to meet Lucius, 
 and Lucius had always stood for her as 
 an embodiment of everything that was 
 worthy of admiration in the opposite sex. 
 She had recently been put in command of 
 her own small dress allowance, and had 
 expended a good part of her quarter's in- 
 come on the frock that Dizzy had criticised 
 so contemptuously. Lucius had not taken 
 so much notice of her as she had expected, 
 considering that they had been friends all 
 their lives, and he seemed unhappy ! Poor 
 boy ! With feminine intuition she instantly 
 divined something of the state of things 
 that existed between him and his father. 
 Hitherto she had regarded Mr Binney with 
 that respect due to his age and his stand- 
 ing in her father's congregation. Suddenly 
 
168 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 she found herself hating and despising him 
 with a fervour that surprised even herself, 
 and she would have given anything she 
 possessed, even her new frock, to be able 
 to console Lucius without appearing to 
 understand why he was so downcast. 
 Lucius spoke very little to her, although 
 she sat next to him, and she was too shy 
 to address him first ; but now she had to 
 collect her wits and cope with the em- 
 barrassing young man who sat on her 
 left, who seemed more at his ease than 
 she could possibly have conceived any 
 young man being in the awe-inspiring sur- 
 roundings of a set dinner-party, and who 
 spoke and behaved in quite a different 
 manner to anybody she had ever met 
 before. 
 
 ' Oysters ! ' began Dizzy, as an opening 
 to conversation. ' I don't know whether 
 you know that if you eat a dozen oysters 
 and drink a wine-glassful of brandy after 
 them, you die.' 
 
 Miss Toller had never eaten oysters in 
 her life, nor drunk brandy except under 
 strong maternal pressure for medicinal pur- 
 poses, but she looked rather frightened. 
 ' Do you ? ' she said. 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER ^69 
 
 'Yes,' said Dizzy, 'the brandy turns the 
 oysters into leather. Leather's the most 
 indigestible thing you can swallow, although 
 of course nobody would swallow it if they 
 could help it. But the funny part of it is, 
 that if you eat a piece of cheese the size 
 of a walnut — I don't know why walnut 
 particularly — it melts the leather and then 
 you are all right!* 
 
 Miss Toller thought this information a 
 trifle indelicate, but made no comment on 
 it, except the tacit one of leaving her 
 oysters untasted. 
 
 ' Been to any plays lately ? ' inquired 
 Dizzy. 
 
 ' No,' said Miss Toller, ' my father doesn't 
 approve of theatres.' 
 
 ' Don't he ? ' said Dizzy. ' Quite right 
 too. I'm sure the nonsense that's put on 
 the stage now and called a play is enough 
 to make you ill. And then they talk about 
 dramatic art! Why, there's more art in 
 a Punch and Judy show. Lucius and I 
 have been going the rounds for the last 
 week, and I'm hanged if I want to go and 
 see another play till I'm seventy. Louie! 
 Freer's the only artist among the whole 
 lot of 'em. Ever heard her sing " Mary 
 
170 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Jane's Top Note?" Oh no, I forgot. You 
 don't care for theatres. But you should 
 have seen Lucius at the A. D. C. He was 
 only a maid-servant — but such a maid- 
 servant. He had letters from all the 
 Registry Offices in Cambridge offering him 
 situations. Every Sunday out and as 
 many followers as he liked. Didn't you, 
 Lucius ? ' 
 
 ' He's talking nonsense, Nesta,' said 
 Lucius. ' He always will talk whether he's 
 got anything to say or not' 
 
 ' But did you dress up as a maid-servant, 
 Lucius'? ' asked the girl. 
 
 ' He did,' said Dizzy, ' and his waist was 
 twenty-two inches round. His name was 
 Mary.' But here Mr Stubbs' attention w;as 
 demanded by his other neighbour, Mrs 
 Toller, who had learnt enough of Mr 
 Binney's late doings to satisfy her for the 
 present, and had caught a few scraps of 
 the conversation addressed to her daughter, 
 and thought it a trifle free. 
 
 'And what may you be going to do, 
 Mr Stubbs, when you leave college?' she 
 aisked with a slight touch of asperity. 
 
 'Well, 'pon my word, I don't know, 
 replied Dizzy, who may have been a little 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 171 
 
 surprised at the directness of the inquiry, 
 but didn't show it. ' I leave all that sort 
 of thing to my old father, you know. He's 
 got plenty of ideas on the subject, but he 
 changes 'em about once a month. I fall in 
 with 'em all and give 'em up directly the 
 new one comes along. It keeps him out 
 of mischief, having something to think 
 about, and it don't hurt me. I think it's 
 the Church just at present — or is it brew- 
 ing? No, brewing was last term. My 
 old father read in the papers ' that the 
 country spends more money on its drink bills 
 than on anything else, so he thought that 
 if I was put in a position to enable me 
 to receipt a few of 'em, it wouldn't be 
 a bad thing. However, he gave up 
 the idea for some reason or other, and 
 now we're turning our attention to the 
 Church.' 
 
 'And do you feel that you have any 
 vocation for the ministry?' asked Mrs 
 Toller. 
 
 - 'Oh! I shall rub along all right,' said 
 Dizzy. 'I've an old uncle who's, got 
 several livings in his gift. He'll give me 
 one if I want it, I daresay. There's one 
 up in Lincolnshire,— not much money, but 
 
172 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 a nice house, and five hundred acres of 
 rough shooting, — you don't often get that 
 sort of thing with a rectory nowadays, — and 
 only' about fifty people in the parish. I 
 shouldn't mind going there, and I daresay 
 I could if I wanted to. My old uncle's 
 place is in the next parish, and I could 
 have a very good time.' 
 
 Mrs Toller listened with inward dis- 
 approval, but the mention of Dizzy's uncle 
 with his patronage and his ' place ' dis- 
 armed her rancour, she being as arrant a 
 snob as ever walked, and she said with 
 much sweetness, — 
 
 : 'Don't you think, Mr Stubbs, that the 
 system of patronage adopted by the Estab- 
 lished Church is a little — ^what shall I say? 
 — a little — ' 
 
 'I do,' said Dizzy with warmth. ' I quite 
 agree with you. I think it's perfectly 
 monstrous. Now, look at my old uncle — 
 well, perhaps I oughtn't to let out family 
 secrets — but I assure you that for that old 
 man to be able to present people to livings 
 ■^-though, mind you, he's a very nice old 
 man, and I've nothing to say against him — 
 well, upon my word, it's enough to make you 
 turn Particular Baptist or something — never 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 173 
 
 quite knew why Baptists should be more 
 particular than anybody else — oh, I beg your 
 pardon, Mrs Toller — 'pon my word I forgot 
 we weren't of the same way of thinking — ' 
 clumsy beggar, always putting my foot in 
 it — but you ain't what they call a Particular 
 Baptist, are you?' 
 
 'Certainly not,' said Mrs Toller. 'The 
 Particular Baptists were — ' 
 
 'Quite so. Yes, I remember. And I 
 know, of course:, that Dr Toller is a most 
 distinguished leader of religious thought — : 
 everybody knows that. I ought to have 
 remembered that he didn't happen to 
 belong to the same Church as I do — 
 stupid of me. But, you know, the truth 
 of it is, Mrs Toller, that when a man 
 gets up to the top of the tree, well, 
 he may be Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 or a Cardinal or — or a man like your 
 husband, and to a fellow like me who 
 .don't follow these things very closely, well, 
 there ain't much difference, don't you 
 know.' 
 
 ' You feel that, do you ? ' said Mrs Toller, 
 mucL gratified. 'Of course we think so; 
 but church people are usually so bigoted. 
 I'm sure it's a great pleasure to meet a 
 
174 PET£R BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 member of the Establishment who is so 
 broad-minded.' 
 
 Dizzy felt that he had completely re- 
 . trieved his error, and proceeded to amplify 
 his ideas. 
 
 ' I think it's such rot being narrow- 
 minded, don't you know,' he said. ' Look 
 at the Buddhists. They're just as good 
 as we are. I knew a fellow once who 
 became one. He was fond of a good 
 glass of wine. He had to knock that off, 
 and become a teetotakr. He liked shoot- 
 ing, but he had to give it up, because he 
 said he couldn't take life — he never had 
 taken much before, but he used to hit 'em 
 sometimes by mistake, and he didn't want 
 to run any risks. Of course, he didn't 
 eat meat. Then he hadn't been married 
 very lon^g, and there was a baby he was 
 very fond of. He began to bring that 
 up as a Buddhist too,' and fed it on apples 
 and filbert nuts. Don't know what his, 
 wife was doing all the time, but it died 
 in a month. He didn't care. He just 
 went on. Now, that's what I call religion, 
 you know, and I should admire that fellow 
 just as much if he were a Mormon or 
 whatever he was. Wouldn't you?' 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 175 
 
 Mrs Toller was not prepared to go quite 
 so far as that, but she went part of the 
 way, and went very amiably. 
 
 ' I suppose you have never heard my 
 husband preach, have you, Mr Stubbs ? ' 
 she asked. 
 
 'No, I haven't,' said Dizzy. 'And it's 
 a funny thing, because I've been in London 
 a good deal. It's the people who come 
 up from the country who see and hear 
 everything that's going on. Now, you 
 wouldn't credit it, but I've actually never 
 been to the Zoo.' 
 
 Mrs Toller did not quite see the con- 
 nection of ideas, but her amiability did not 
 decrease. 
 
 ' He preached a very fine sermon last 
 Sunday,' she said, 'on "The Municipal 
 Duties of an Enlightened Electorate." The 
 papers were full of it. The Daily Chronicle 
 said it was "an epoch-making sermon."' 
 
 ' I can quite believe that,' said Dizzy. 
 • If a man talks sense in the pulpit people 
 will listen to him. If he talks nonsense 
 they won't.' 
 
 'That is so true,' said Mrs Toller, and 
 felt quite sorry when the time came for 
 the ladies to leave the table, for Dizzy had 
 
176, PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 by this time completely wiped out the 
 memory of his little slip. 
 
 Driving home after the entertainment 
 was over Mrs Toller laid down the law. 
 
 ' Mr Binney seems to have been behav- 
 ing very foolishly at Cambridge,' she said. 
 ' I gathered something of the sort from 
 Mrs Higginbotham, and wished to find 
 out if it was true. I could see that 
 she was ashamed of the nonsense he 
 talked at dinner, and I felt for her, poor 
 thing. I shall go and see her to-morrow 
 and tell her so. The way Miss Tuppei 
 egged him on was disgraceful. She ought 
 to be ashamed of herself, at her age, too. 
 If I were you, I should allude to it in youi 
 prayer on Sunday, Samuel. It will not 
 seem so pointed as if you were to do it 
 in the sermon, and there is never any 
 telling what Miss Tupper may do. She 
 might leave the chapel altogether if she 
 is offended, and if she once took to going 
 to church she'd give herself such airs that 
 there'd be no holding her.' 
 
 ' I think Mr Binney is a very silly little 
 man,' said ' Miss Toller vindictively. ' I 
 believe he is making poor Lucius miser- 
 able.' 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 177 
 
 ' Nesta ! ' exclaimed Mrs Tolleir, astonished 
 at this outburst from her usually submissive 
 daughter. ' I cannot allow you to speak 
 like that of your elders. Mr Binney' is 
 one of your father's greatest supporters. 
 Pray express yourself with more respect. 
 And as for Lucius — I've no patience, with 
 him. I've gone out of my way to be kind 
 to that boy, and he shows no more grati- 
 tude than if I was a mere nobody — hardly 
 troubled himself to answer when I asked 
 him how he was getting on with his 
 studies, and actually turned his back upon 
 me when I began to give him a little advice 
 about the temptations of University life. 
 Now if he were like 'that nice young Mr 
 Stubbs it would be different. Stubbs is 
 not a genteel name, but I believe he is 
 very well connected, and he certainly has a 
 well-bred manner of speaking. Samuel, I 
 have asked him to come with us and hear 
 you preach on Sunday evening. , He said 
 nothing would please him better. He has 
 never been in a Nonconformist place of 
 worship, and he will certainly come if he 
 is still in town. I should be careful what I 
 said about the Establishment if L were 
 
 M 
 
178 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 you. I should like him to carry away a 
 good impression of your preaching.' 
 
 ' rU be sure and remember it, my dear, 
 said Dr Toller drowsily from his corner 
 of the carriage. ' Nesta dear, write a note 
 for me when we get home — " Mr Stubbs — 
 no rubs." Then I shan't disgrace myself.' 
 The Reverend Dr Toller cultivated his 
 small gift of humour ; he found it necessary 
 in order to live comfortably with his 
 wife. 
 
 Dizzy took his departure the next morn- 
 ing, but not before a very painful scene 
 had occurred in Russell Square. 'The 
 Times which graced Mr Binney's breakfast 
 table, and was now eagerly searched each 
 morning for news of the Little-go examina- 
 tion, at last published the list. Mr Binney's 
 name was not in it. 
 
 Dizzy came down to find a dejected figure 
 sitting at the head of the table, while the 
 disregarded urn which had filled the teapot 
 and flooded the tea-tray was beginning 
 to flow over the surrounding tract of table- 
 cloth. As he entered the room Mr Binney 
 bounded from his seat with a yell of pain, 
 and turned off the tap. The physical 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 179 
 
 anguish of the moment diverted his mind 
 from the mental shock he had undergone, 
 but the numbing realisation of failure soon 
 settled on him again. * Stubbs ! ' he said 
 mournfully, 'it is all over. I shall never 
 hold up my head again.' 
 
 ' Lor, Mr Binney ! ' exclaimed Dizzy, 
 ' It can't be so bad as that, is it ? Shall 
 I ring for a servant to bring a cloth and 
 mop it up.-** 
 
 ' It isn't that,* said Mr Binney^ with the 
 calm born of despair. ' I have failed to 
 pass the Previous examination, I am a 
 disgraced man.' 
 
 'Oh, that's all, is it?' said Dizzy, help- 
 ing himself to devilled kidneys off the side 
 table. ' I thought you'd scalded yourself. 
 Why, bless my soul, I knew a fellow 
 who had eight shots at the Little-go and 
 didn't pass it then. I had three goes 
 myself, and here I am as merry as a 
 cricket.' 
 
 'Ah, you are young!' said Mr Binney. 
 * You've got your life before you. I shall 
 never get over it.* 
 
 Nevertheless he did get over it, and the 
 failure did him good. He went to Mrs 
 
180 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Higginbotham and confessed all' He saw 
 now, he said, that he had wasted his time 
 and opportunities. He had consorted with 
 idle and graceless companions, and made 
 himself a reproach to the authorities of the 
 college. He had brought this . appalling 
 result on himself and he deserved it. 
 
 Mrs Higginbotham gave the repentant 
 prodigal full absolution. She .advised him 
 to write to Mr Rimington, and promise 
 full amet\dment of his ways. Mr Binney 
 did not take her advice in this particular, 
 but he did summon to his aid the learned 
 MinshuU, and set himself steadily to read 
 for several hours a day during the Christmas 
 vacation in order to make up for lost time. 
 Lucius found the house very dull. An 
 unexpected invitation from his cousin 
 John Jermyn's mother came for him to 
 spend the week after Christmas at the Nor- 
 folk Rectory, but remembering his cousin 
 John, he did not feel attracted, and re- 
 ceiving another invitation the day after 
 to the ancestral home of the Stubbs's, he 
 accepted that, and refused the other. He 
 went up to Cambridge early, for there was 
 a chance of his rowing in the University 
 
MR BINNEY GIVES A DINNER 181 
 
 boat, and he wanted to keep a term before 
 going to Putney, if he should be fortunate ' 
 enough to be wanted there, and saw next 
 to nothing of his father for the remainder 
 of the vacatioil. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 
 
 Mr Binney embarked on his second term 
 at Cambridge with the full intention ot 
 acquitting himself with credit and freeing 
 his character from the suspicion of unruli- 
 ness which had unfortunately become at- 
 tached to it. He was very much in 
 earnest about his work, and mapped out a 
 course of arduous study which was to be 
 continued right up to the following June, 
 when he hoped to make up for his first 
 failure by taking a high class in both parts 
 of the Little-go. The Union he was de- 
 termined to let severely alone. His pride 
 had had a severe rebuff from the indignity 
 which had been put upon him in the elec- 
 tions. ' They can do without me,' said Mr 
 Binney to his fellow - aspirant, M'Gee. 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 183 
 
 • Very well, then, I will show them that I 
 can do without them.' 
 
 ' Toch ! man, have another try,' said the 
 indomitable M'Gee. ' Rome wasn't built 
 in a day.' But he said it without en- 
 thusiasm, for the path to success, according 
 to his ideas, did not lie through the follies 
 and extravagances to which Mr Binney 
 had treated his audience during the pre- 
 vious term. 
 
 ' I shall never speak at the Union again, 
 M'Gee,' said Mr Binney firmly. And he 
 kept his word. 
 
 He was a little troubled as to what 
 course he should adopt with Howden arid 
 the rest of his athletic friends. He did 
 not want to drop them altogether, but he 
 wanted to make it clearly understood that 
 the open restaurant which he had pre- 
 viously conducted for their benefit was 
 now closed, and he had a suspicion that 
 its. closing might mean the discontinuance 
 of their favour, and a consequent loss of 
 prestige to himself. He gave a dinner on 
 the second evening of the term, or perhaps 
 it would be more correct to say that 
 Howden, who professed himself delighted 
 to meet his old- friend once more after five 
 
184, PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 weeks' absence, gave it for him in his 
 rooms, and Mr Binney paid, the bill. It 
 was quite as noisy as any that had gone 
 before it, but Mr Binney did not add to 
 the gaiety. He made a speech in the 
 course of the evening — he was rather fond 
 of making speeches — in which he informed 
 his friends that he was about to embark 
 on a severe course of study and found he 
 would not be able to have the pleasure of 
 entertaining them quite so often as before 
 on account of the time that was thrown 
 away over these festivities. What he said 
 was cheered to the echo, which gratified 
 him not a little, but Howden who followed 
 him did not appear to have taken his 
 remarks in the least seriously, and assured 
 him in a voice broken with emotion, that 
 they would all stick by him and never 
 forsake him. This was not quite what Mr 
 Binney wanted, but Howden's affecting 
 periods caused such an outburst of en- 
 thusiasm that he succumbed to the general 
 goodwill and allowed the matter to stand 
 over for the present. 
 
 On the next afternoon, however, it was 
 decided for him. He was sitting over his 
 books for an hour before hall when he 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 185 
 
 received a call from Mirrilees, the Captain • 
 of the First Trinity Boat Club. Mirrilees 
 was an acquaintance of whom Mr Binney 
 might reasonably have been proud if he 
 had ever shown the slightest wish to have 
 anything to do with our hero apart from 
 his official position as captain of the boat 
 club to which Mr Binney belonged. He 
 was tall and well set up, a really fine oar 
 and a thoroughly good fellow in the best 
 sense of that misused term. He was not 
 everybody's friend, even in the exceedingly 
 tolerant atmosphere of undergraduate Cam- 
 bridge, and athletes of the type of Howden 
 disliked him, and said so freely ; but Mr 
 Binney had kept his ' own opinion on this 
 point, and if there was one man in Cam- 
 bridge whom he respected with all the 
 force of the hero-worship which was a part 
 of his still undeveloped character, it was 
 Mirrilees. He therefore rose to his feet, 
 and Showed by his nervousness of manner 
 that he fully appreciated the honour done 
 to him. 
 
 Mirrilees sat down on the sofa and re- 
 fused the proffered suggestion of refresh- 
 ment. His keen eyes glanced round the 
 room and then rested on Mr Binney. 
 
186 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' ' I told you last term,' he said, " that we 
 might want you to steer the first Lent boat. 
 You're a light weight and you've got a 
 head on your shoulders. At least you 
 haven't lost it yet on the river, although 
 you seem to have done so occasionally 
 elsewhere.' 
 
 What Mr Binney suffered at that instant 
 in the way of remorse is beyond description. 
 This was a very different thing to Mr 
 Rimington's strictures on his conduct. He 
 made no reply, but hung his head. 
 
 ' Now I've come to offer you the place — ' 
 Mr Binney revived a little — ' but on certain 
 conditions. I am not going to have the 
 cox of any boat I've got anything to do 
 with making himself more ridiculous than 
 he is by nature. We shall be laughed at, 
 of course, for having a man of your age 
 in the boats at all. I don't mind that as 
 long as that's all there is to laugh at. What 
 I'm not going to stand is your mftking 
 yourself the butt and croney of. every 
 drunken rowdy in Cambridge. I say what 
 I've got to say perfectly straight as captain 
 of the club to one of its members who 
 may turn out useful to it. If you lay it 
 to heart and don't take offence I shall 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 187 
 
 have done what I wanted to do. If you 
 don't like such plain speaking, say so, and 
 I'll clear out, and we need never speak to 
 one another again.' 
 
 Mr Binney's choler had shown signs of 
 rising during this very plain and unvar- 
 nished statement of the light in which 
 Mirrilees regarded him, but the hint with 
 which the address had closed brought it 
 down again. 
 
 ' I don't take offence,' he said slowly, 
 'though I'm not used to — to — ' 
 
 ' Well, perhaps I put it a bit too strong,' 
 said Mirrilees, ' but if I were you I shouldn't 
 have anything more to do with Howden 
 and that lot. I hear that they were all 
 here last night again as usual, and that's 
 why I'm talking to you now. They're only 
 sponging on you and making you appear 
 a fool all the time. If you steer the first 
 Lent boat this term — and mind, though I 
 make no promises, that's intended to mean 
 the first May boat next term — ^you'll- have 
 to train with the rest, and that • will mean 
 knocking off all these diversions ; and 
 you'll find plenty of good chaps in the 
 boat club without running after footballers 
 
188 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 amongst whom you can't exactly expect 
 to shine.' 
 
 ' I'm very grateful to you, Mirrilees, for 
 your kind advice,' said Mr Binney. ' I 
 shall certainly take it, and you may rely 
 upon me to do my best for the honour 
 of the club.' 
 
 ' That's all right then,' said Mirrilees, rising. 
 ' Walters is captain of your boat, as you 
 know, but I thought I'd just come round 
 and settle things up. Good-night ! ' 
 
 Outside in the darkness of Jesus Lane,' 
 Mirrilees smiled continuously. ' Good Lud ! ' 
 he said to himself. ' Fancy talking like 
 that to the father of one of your pals! 
 But it was the only way, and I thought 
 he'd stand it somehow if I was only 
 impersonal enough. I rather fancy I've 
 done Lucy a good turn. But I hope he'll 
 never know.' 
 
 He left Mr Binney in a fervour of amended 
 ambitions. What a grand thing it would 
 be to have a friend like Mirrilees, a man 
 whom most people turned round to look 
 at if they passed him in the street, a man 
 who had already rowed two years in the 
 University boat and would probably row 
 two years more before he left Cambridge, 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE . 189 
 
 a man whose name was known all over 
 England, Why, it was almost as good 
 as knowing Muttlebury or Guy Nickalls. 
 Lucius knew him, of course, lucky young 
 beggar. He wondered whether it was 
 worth while making another attempt to 
 make acquaintances through his son, but 
 the memory of Blathgowrie and others de- 
 terred him, for Lucius's friends were not 
 all Mirrilees's, and he made up his mind 
 to deserve the great man's favour by a 
 brilliant career as a cox, and extreme care- 
 fulness as to his behaviour both on the 
 river and away from it. 
 
 And so for the best part of that term 
 Mr Binney's behaviour was irreproachable. 
 He never missed a lecture or, an appoint- 
 ment with his Coach, and the amount of 
 work he got through in the privacy of his 
 rooms was little short of marvellous. He 
 was on the river, of course, every afternoon, 
 and suffered greatly from the exposure to 
 the cold as he sat in his narrow seat, 
 fumbling with numbed hands at the rudder 
 lines, and was carried swiftly along by the 
 combined exertions of the eight stalwart 
 men who faced him. His appearance always 
 caused some merriment on the tow-path, 
 
190 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 and the town urchins were a great trial to 
 him with. their coarse banter, but the men 
 of the First Trinity Boat Glub, as a rule, 
 treated him with the respect due to his 
 years, and, if they did show a slight dis- 
 inclination to walk up from the boats with 
 him, or to admit him into very close inti- 
 macy with them, he made up his mind to 
 bear the deprivation, trusting that it would 
 disappear in time, rather than fall again 
 into the mistake he had made in trying to 
 force himself upon Blathgowrie and his 
 friends. As for Howden, there was not 
 so much trouble with him as Mr Binney 
 had expected. For one thing, he played 
 Rugby football regularly for the University, 
 and, although no such arduous course of 
 training is expected from a. football player 
 as is necessary in the case of an oarsman, 
 still a continuous course of hilarious dinners 
 is not regarded with favour by those in 
 authority, and Howden did not apply so 
 often as before for sustenance at Mr 
 Binney's table. Mr Binney also conceived 
 the idea of employing Howden himself to 
 keep his friends off him. He got him 
 to talk about his financial troubles one 
 morning, a subject which he had before 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE I91 
 
 instinctively avoided. Howden was nothing 
 loth, and poured out a dismal tale of debts 
 and duns. Mr Binney then afforded him 
 temporary pecuniary relief, and asked, as 
 a favour, that Howden should inform his 
 friends that he, Mr Binney, was very busy 
 this term and would not be able to see 
 quite so much of them as before. Howden 
 accepted the responsibility, and discharged 
 it satisfactorily, and Mr Binney was left 
 in peace to carry out his reformation. 
 
 But, alaa! the old proverb still holds 
 true : ' Give a dog a bad name and hang 
 him.' Mr Binney was now an exemplary 
 character, but nobody would believe it. 
 When his guests left his rooms after the 
 evening already alluded to, they got into 
 trouble with the Proctors. It was the usual 
 offence of smoking in cap and gown, but 
 Howden added to it by running away from 
 avenging justice. Neither Proctor nor 
 Bull-dogs could hope to equal him at that 
 game, so they made no attempt to enter 
 into competition, but entered up his name, 
 which was perfectly familiar to all three or 
 them, instead. So the only thing Howden 
 got by his little sprint was the exercise, 
 which he did not require, and a double 
 
192 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 fine the next morning, which he could ill 
 afford to pay. His escapade also came to 
 the ears of his tutor, Mr Rimington. He 
 would not have taken notice of such a 
 comparatively slight offence, if such offences 
 had not been of frequent occurrence with 
 Howden. As it was, he sent for him and 
 talked to him, and then it came out that 
 Howden had been dining /with Mr Binney. 
 It will be remembered thsit Mr Rimington 
 had expostulated with Mr Binney on the 
 last day of the previous term, and this 
 occurrence had taken place on the second 
 day of the present term. Mr Rimington 
 may therefore be excused for coming to the 
 conclusion that his expostulations had had 
 very little effect, and that Mr Binney was 
 proceeding on the reckless career which 
 had made him such a nuisance to those 
 responsible for the order of the college. 
 He said nothing on this occasion, but 
 continued to regard Mr Binney with feelings 
 of strong disfavour. 
 
 Mr Binney might have lived down his 
 reputation in time had it not been arti- 
 ficially sustained for him by the journal 
 to which we have already referred, the 
 New Court Chronicle. The editor of that 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 193 
 
 enterprising publication had found that 
 Mr Binney's eccentricities made very good 
 copy for him in the previous term, and 
 confidently looked forward to keeping up 
 his circulation by exploiting our hero to 
 a considerable extent as long as his paper 
 should continue to run. He had had an 
 altercation with Lucius one night in the 
 Great Court upon one of those occasions . 
 when two factions meet and mutually 
 disagree, and although, or probably because, 
 he had been in the wrong, the editor of 
 the New Court Chronicle bore Lucius 
 a grudge and was not above paying it off 
 by ridiculing his father. He had also been 
 one of the band whom Howden had fre- 
 quently invited to partake of Mr Binney's 
 hospitality, with which he had made so 
 free, that Mr Binney had decided that in 
 his case at least he would give the cold 
 shoulder himself and not entrust the work 
 entirely to Howden. The journalistic 
 gentleman had not taken this very kindly, 
 and a flavour of malice had crept into 
 his witticisms where before there had 
 only been good-humoured chaff. As Mr 
 Binney gave him very little occasion now 
 for humorous writing, he allowed himself 
 
 N 
 
Iff* PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 a freer hand and invented stories against 
 him instead of merely repeating them. 
 
 In order to provide a fitting framework 
 for his humour, he published each week a 
 correspondence between Mr Binney in 
 Cambridge and an imaginary mother in 
 London, in which the former recounted 
 his exploits, and the latter commented 
 .upon them. The idea was carried' out with 
 some humour and proved to be an accept- 
 able feature of the paper. Unfortunately 
 the editor had hit upon the name of 
 ' Martha ' for Mr Binney's supposed mother, 
 and her letters were not so unlike Mrs Hig- 
 ginbotham's in style as quite to relieve Mr 
 Binney of the suspicion that the story of 
 his wooing of that good woman had 
 reached Cambridge. The only two people 
 who could possibly be suspected of divulg- 
 ing it were Lucius and Dizzy, and after 
 the issue of the first instalment he went 
 angrily round to his son's rooms to see if 
 the offence could be brought home to him. 
 Lucius was out, but seated comfortably in 
 his armchair and smoking one of his 
 cigars was Dizzy, who must have been the 
 culprit, if Lucius were not, thought Mr 
 Binney. 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 196 
 
 'Ah, Mr Binney, pleased to see you 
 again,' said Dizzy genially. ' How are you 
 feeling! Pretty toll-lollish ? ' 
 
 ' No, Stubbs, I am not feeling particularly 
 " toll-lollish " just at present, — I thank yoU 
 all the same,' said Mr Binney severely. ' I 
 don't know whether this publication has 
 come to your notice yet?' Mr Binney 
 put a copy of the New Court Chronicle on 
 the table, which Dizzy took up and glanced 
 through with interest. 
 
 • It ain't bad,' he said, ' though it's got 
 up by a set of rotters. Hullo, what's 
 this — something about you, Mr Binney, 
 ehi*' 
 
 'Yes, sir,' said Mr Binney angrily, 'and 
 a most scurrilous piece of work it is. My 
 dear mother, sir, has lain in her grave 
 these twenty years. It is a scandalous 
 thing that contempt should be poured on 
 her memory in this indecent fashion.' 
 
 'It is,' said Dizzy warmly. 'A most 
 preposterous thing. I quite agree with 
 you. These fellows ought to be kicked, 
 every one of them. And if they treated 
 my old mater in that way I'd — I'd pay 
 somebody to do it.' 
 
 ' But that is not all, sir,' continued Mr 
 
196 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Binney. ' I don't know whether you recol- 
 lect meeting a lady of the name of Higgin- 
 botham at my table ? ' 
 
 ' Mrs Higginbotham ! ' exclaimed Dizzy^ 
 'why, of course I do. And a most engag- 
 ing old lady she was too. Don't 'know 
 when I've met a nicer.' 
 
 ' I'm obliged for your good opinion, sir,' 
 said Mr Binney stiffly, 'although I confess 
 the idea of [Mrs Higginbotham as an 
 old lady is a new one to me. You are 
 probably aware that her Christian name is 
 Martha.* 
 
 'First I've heard of it,' said Dizzy, 'but 
 it's an excellent name. I had an old aunt 
 called Martha, and I thought she was 
 going to leave me a lot of money ; but 
 she didn't.' 
 
 ' You are sure that you didn't know that 
 Mrs Higginbotham's name was Martha?' 
 asked Mr Binney suspiciously. 
 
 ''Pon my word I hadn't the slightest 
 idea of it, Mr. Binney,' said Dizzy. ' I 
 shouldn't have had a word to say if you'd 
 told me it was Mary. But why do you 
 ask?' 
 
 ' Never mind,' said Mr Binney. ' If you 
 give me your word of honour as "a gentle- 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 197 
 
 man that the fact is new to you, I accept 
 your assurance, and' there let the matter 
 end. Here is Lucius. I should like to 
 have a word alone with him, if you will 
 permit me, Stubbs.' 
 
 'Certainly,' said the obliging Dizzy, 
 rising instantly. ' Come round and give 
 me a look in presently, Lucy. I'll take 
 another of those weeds of yours if I may.' 
 
 When he had got outside, Mr Binney 
 turned to his son, with, ' Now, sir, what 
 is the meaning of this?' 
 
 Lucius glanced at the paper tp which 
 his father pointed. 
 
 'Oh, I've read the rubbish,' he said 
 wearily. ' It makes me sick.' 
 
 'Read it,' said Mr Binney. 'Yes, I've no 
 doubt you've read it, sir. What I should 
 like to know is how much you wrote of 
 it.' 
 
 ' I don't know what you mean,' said 
 Lucius. ' I've had quite enough mud 
 thrown at me since you've been up here, 
 father. It isn't likely I should take to 
 throwing it at myself.' 
 
 ' Don't prevaricate, sir,' said Mr Binney, 
 his voice rising, 'Did you write it, or 
 did you not ? ' 
 
198 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' I'm not going to answer such a ridicu- 
 lous question,' said Lucius sulkily. 
 
 ' Then I will answer it for you,' said Mr 
 Binney. ' You did write it. I know you 
 have always nourished evil feelings against 
 that excellent woman Martha Higgin- 
 botham, who I hope will one day do you 
 the honour of becoming your mother. Not 
 content with wreaking your unfilial spite 
 against your own father who begat you, 
 you must smirch the good name of a lady 
 who has always loaded you with kindness. 
 Out upon such conduct! I say.' 
 
 Lucius held his head in his hands. ' I 
 suppose I shall understand it all soon,' he 
 said. 'At present it sounds like one of 
 Dir Toller's sermons. Is there anything 
 about you and Mrs Higginbotham in the 
 advertisements, father? I've read all the 
 rest of the rag and I don't remember her 
 name being mentioned.' 
 
 ' What is that name, sir ? ' asked Mr 
 Binney, pointing to the signature of his 
 imaginary mother's letters. 
 
 ' Martha Binney,' read Lucius. 
 
 'Yes, Martha Binney,' echoed his father. 
 ' And in two years and a half from now, 
 Martha Higginbotham will change her 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 199 
 
 name for Martha Binney, if we're both 
 spared.' 
 
 ' It'll be a change for the better then, as 
 far as she's concerned,' said Lucius ; 'though 
 /'// never call her mother, not if you, turn 
 me out of the house for it. But what are 
 you driving at, father? You can't really 
 think I wrote that or had anything to 
 do with it, I'm not such a scug as all 
 that.' 
 
 'And pray who else up here but you 
 knows that Mrs Higginbotham's name is 
 Martha ? ' inquired Mr Binney. ' That's , 
 my point.' 
 
 'Well, I don't thiiik it's much of a point,' 
 said Lucius. 'It's a fluke, their happen- 
 ing to hit upon that name. But, look here, 
 can't you stop this ■ sort of thing .■* It's 
 really awful the way things are going on. 
 I don't isuppose there's, anybody ever been 
 up here who's had such a miserable time 
 as I'm having. Other fellows respect their 
 fathers. You simply don't give me a 
 chance.' 
 
 This touched Mr Binney to the quick. 
 He was very susceptible to criticism since 
 Mirrilees had spoken to him so plainly. 
 ' I'm afraid I have given you sprne reason 
 
200 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 to say that, my boy,' he said. ' I — I was 
 led away last term. I was under a wrong 
 impression of what was the thing and what 
 wasn't the thing. But that is all changed 
 now. I have become a reading man and 
 a boating man. I have turned the page 
 on everything else.' 
 
 ' There was that dinner with Howden 
 and the rest of them the very night after 
 we came up,' said Lucius. 
 
 ' It was the last dinner that Howden 
 will get out of me,' said Mr Binney. ' I 
 have done with ihim — at least I hope 
 so.' 
 
 ' Well, then, tl»ere's some hope,' said 
 Lticius. 'And, look here, father, if you've 
 really given up that sort of thing ^there's 
 a much better chance of your getting on 
 with the fellows worth knowing. I shouldn't 
 take any notice of that business, if I were 
 you. It will die down in time. Would 
 you care to come to lunch to-morrow ? 
 Mirrilees is coming. He's a good chap, you'll 
 like to meet him.' 
 
 ' Oh, I know him well. He was in my 
 rooms a few days ago,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' But I should like to meet him again 
 very much. Yes, I'll come, Lucius,' and 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 201 
 
 Mr Binney went away feeling that the 
 reward of good behaviour had already 
 come, in spite of the New Court Chron- 
 icle. 
 
 But, alas! Mr Binney's reputation proved 
 harder matter to live down than he had 
 anticipated. The men whom he met on 
 the river fought rather shy of him, for to 
 tell the truth, there was very little to 
 recommend the poor little gentleman as a 
 companion for youth if he was to be taken 
 seriously as he now seemed to desire. 
 Howden and Co. had only put up with 
 him because of his dinners, and because, 
 at the time he had consorted with them, 
 he had apparently not objected to being 
 made the butt of their not over-refined 
 pleasantries. He now led a very dull and 
 dejected life, but his work kept him em- 
 ployed, and the prospects of his boat in 
 the Lent races gave him something to look 
 forward to with keen expectation. The First 
 Trinity first Lent boat had fallen to the 
 fourth place on the river, but this year it 
 was by far the best crew practising, with 
 the possible exception of the head boat. 
 It was expected to make its first three 
 bumps with comparative ease, and to row 
 
202 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 an exciting race with Trinity Hall in the 
 last night of the races for the head place 
 on the river. Whenever Mr Binney felt 
 inclined to get down-hearted at the thought 
 of his unpopularity he would buoy himself 
 up with the anticipation of the glory 
 that would accrue to him if his hopes were 
 realised. 
 
 Unfortunately the editor of the New 
 Court Chronicle found his journalistic in- 
 genuity increasing with practice, and spent 
 such pains over ' The Binney Corre- 
 spondence,' that that feature of his paper 
 soon became the talk of Cambridge. After 
 the third number Mr Binney wrote him a 
 letter of expostulation, which he published 
 with appropriate comment, but of which 
 he took no further notice. That week's 
 instalment of the Correspondence contained 
 an account from 'Your repentant son, 
 Peter Binney,' of how he had been asked 
 to dine with the Vice-Chancellor, had dis- 
 graced himself by drinking too much wine, 
 and had been escorted home by the two 
 Esquire Bedells with their silver pokers, 
 while he raised the town with a spirited 
 rendering of ' Rule Britannia.' Mrs Binney 
 the mother, expressed herself heart-broken 
 
THE NEW COURT CHRONICLE 203 
 
 at the news, and announced her intention 
 of coming up to Cambridge to implore the 
 Vice-Chancellor to overlook the offence, and 
 give her erring boy another chance. She 
 also alluded to her granddaughter Lucy, 
 who was supposed to be studying at Girton 
 College. ' She is a good girl,' wrote the 
 old lady, ' and would be ashamed to carry 
 on in the way you do, Peter, but the dear 
 child tells me she wishes she had been 
 sent to Newnham College. She likes the 
 students there so much better.' 
 
 Poor little Mr Binney went round to his 
 son's rooms almost in tears. He found 
 Lucius still more angry than himself, for, 
 although his admiration of the Newnham 
 girl was well known among his immediate 
 friends, and he did not take a mild degree 
 of chaff on the subject at all ill, the vulgar 
 publicity now given to it goaded him to the 
 verge of desperation. 
 
 'Oh, it's you, father,' he said. 'I'm 
 going round to that fellow Piper to tell 
 him if this business isn't stopped I'll knock 
 his teeth down his throat' 
 
 ' Ah, Lucius,' said Mr Binney plaintively. 
 ' I wish I was big and strong like you. 
 I'd have done that long ago. But you're 
 
204 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 a good boy to stick up for your poor father. 
 I'm going to increase your allowance by 
 £10 for asking me to lunch to meet 
 Mirrilees, and if you get these disgraceful 
 attacks stopped I'll add another £20. 
 You'll get back to the old figure if you're 
 careful, and even beyond it' 
 
 • Thanks, father,' said Lucius, ' but I don't 
 want paying for doing a thing like that, 
 I've got a little score of my own against 
 Mr Piper, and I'm going to pay it off 
 now.' And Lucius took up hig cap and 
 left the room. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 •put him in the fountain* 
 
 Mr Binney had wished he was big and 
 strong like his son. As a matter of fact 
 Lucius was quite a light weight, and 
 although wiry and in good condition, it was 
 certain that he was quite incapable of 
 fulfilling his threat of knocking Piper's 
 teeth down his throat, unless Piper allowed 
 him to do so without making any resistance, 
 which was unlikely. Piper was a great 
 heavy lump of bone and muscle, over six 
 feet high, and quite as fit as Lucius, for 
 the latter had been finally rejected for the 
 University boat, for this year at least, and 
 had gone out of training, while Piper was 
 still playing football. These considerations 
 did occur to Lucius as he walked from his 
 own rooms to those where Piper carried 
 on his editorial functions, but he was so 
 
206 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 angry that they carried little weight with 
 them. In the New Court he met Dizzy. 
 
 'Come up here with me,' he said. 'I've 
 got a little job on.' 
 
 Dizzy followed him up the staircase to 
 Piper's rooms, talking volubly, as was his 
 wont, but Lucius gave him no answer. 
 
 Piper was discovered sittJrig at his table 
 talking to Howden, who stood with his 
 back to the mantelpiece. 
 
 Lucius plunged into his business without 
 any preface. 
 
 ' Look here, sir,' he said, ' I've come 
 about this stuff you've been printing about 
 me and my father. I'll trouble you to stop 
 it, if you don't mind.' 
 
 Piper's face darkened. He was a bad- 
 tempered man. He was also a very clever 
 man, and having no reason to be alarrhed 
 at any possible violence on Lucius's part, 
 which he would rather have welcomed than 
 otherwise, he thought he might as well 
 draw him into a battle of words and afford 
 his intellect some little amusement. So he 
 choked down his temper, and said quietly : — 
 
 'You are Mr Binney, junior, I believe. 
 You are not mentioned from one end of 
 the paper to the other, except as, haying 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 207 
 
 had the chuck from the 'Varsity boat, and 
 I don't see you've any reason to complain 
 of, that.' 
 
 ' That's a lie,' said Lucius instantly. 
 Piper started from his chair, but sat down 
 again and waited. 'You know perfectly 
 well,' continued Lucius hotly, 'that that 
 rot about Lucy and Girton is meant for 
 me, and even if it wasn't I object to your 
 making fun of my father.' 
 
 This was what Piper wanted. ' Is the 
 other Binney your father ? ' he said with a 
 sneer. ' I didn't know it. If I had a father 
 like that I'd drown him.' 
 
 Lucius made a dash forward, and Piper 
 stood up with an evil smile on his face. 
 But Stubbs caught hold of his friend and 
 pulled him back, and Howden stepped 
 forward. 
 
 'Oh, come now, Pips!' expostulated he, 
 'don't overdo it, old man.' 
 
 But Piper took no notice. He suddenly 
 lost all control over his temper. 
 
 ' What the devil do you mean by coming 
 blustering here?' he shouted. 'Get out of 
 my rooms this minute or I'll throw you 
 out of the window. Yes^ you'd better keep 
 him back, you putty-faced swab,' — this to 
 
208 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Dizzy, — ' if he comes near me I'll put some 
 marks on his face he won't lose in a 
 hurry.' 
 
 Lucius shook off Dizzy's encircling 
 grasp. 
 
 'Will you stop printing lies about me 
 and my father ? ' he said. 
 
 ' I won't stop anything," rejoined Piper. 
 
 'Then will you fight?' 
 
 'Fight! By G — , yes. Take off your 
 coat and try.' 
 
 Howden and Siubbs both tried to stop 
 them, but they might as well have tried 
 to stop the tide rising. They were shaken 
 off impatiently. Piper pushed the table 
 and sofa aside, and in less than three 
 minutes after Lucius had entered the room 
 they were at it hammer and tongs. ' 
 
 There was not much science displayed. 
 The room was too small, for one thing, 
 and there was a good deal of damage done 
 to furniture and breakables before it was 
 all over. If: Lucius had kept cool he 
 might have made up in some measure for 
 the great disparity in weight between them, 
 for he knew just a little more of the game 
 than Piper ; but both of them were blind 
 with rage, and it was attack on bpth 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 209 
 
 sides, with very little defence, as long as 
 it lasted. 
 
 It did not last long. Lucius fought as 
 , long as he could stand, but his blows got 
 weaker and weaker, while. Piper got in 
 again and again with as much force as at 
 first. At last he knocked Lucius clean 
 through the glass doors of a cupboard . 
 which held his stock of crockery, and he 
 fell heavily on to the floor, and lay there 
 insensible, with the blood pouring from' 
 his head. Piper had not had enough even to 
 cool his passion] 'Get a towel and water 
 from the bedroom,' he said to Dizzy, Avho 
 was kneeling by the side of his friend. 
 ' And take him out of this as soon as you 
 can. I'm not going to stay in the same 
 room with him.' And he put on his coat 
 and went out of the room. 
 
 Howden stayed behind and helped to 
 restore Lucius to conscioiasness, 'It's rot 
 his tackling a chap like Pips,' he said ; ' he's 
 not in the same class with him, and he's 
 a demon when he's roused. I wouldn't 
 care to takp hirn on myself.' 
 
 ' He's a d — d cad,' said Dizzy, in deep 
 concern, *and I don't care if he hears me 
 say so.' 
 
 
 
210 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 This was the only conversation that 
 passed between them till Lucius came 
 round. Then they both helped him across 
 to his own rooms in Whewell's Court, which , 
 they reached with some difficulty, as Lucius 
 was dazed, and as weak as a kitten. Here 
 the drama changed from tragedy to farce, 
 . for Mr Binney was waiting for them, and 
 as soon as he ^ saw the state to which 
 Lucius had been reduced he made such' 
 lamentations that neither Dizzy nor Howden 
 ' could help laughing. 
 
 ' Oh, chuck it) Binney,' said Howden. 
 He'll he . all right when he gets to 
 bed.' ' 
 
 'Go out and get a doctor, Mr JBinney,' 
 said Dizzy. ' He's cut his head with some 
 broken glass, and we can't stop the bleed- 
 mg. 
 
 Mr Biiiney dashed out instantly in . a - 
 frenzy of terror, and Howden and Dizzy' 
 helped Lucius off with his clothes and into 
 bed, where he lay silent with his face to the 
 wall, while the blood slowly oozed out from 
 under the bandages on his head and soaked 
 into his pillow. The two stood looking 
 at him irresolutely. 
 
 'I'm all right now,' said Lucius faintly, 
 
« PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN ' 211 
 
 ' you needn't wait.' They went into the 
 sitting-room. 
 
 ' Look here, sir,' said Dizzy. * You 
 must stop this business, it's gone quite far 
 enough.' 
 
 ' My dear fellow,' said Howden, ' I didn't 
 have anything to do with it. I told Piper 
 he ought to stop jt when Binriey wrote to 
 object, because — well, because Binney ain't a 
 bad old chap after all, and it's rough on him. 
 But he wouldn't, and it isn't likely he'll 
 stop now, after this.' ^ 
 
 'Well, if he won't stop it of his own 
 accord, he'll have to be made to,' said 
 Dizzy. 
 
 ' I don't know who's going to make him,' 
 said Howden, 
 
 ' Oh, ' I think we can manage that,' said 
 Dizzy. 
 
 Mr Binney came back with a doctor, who 
 patched up Lucius's damaged head and 
 told him to keep in bed until he should 
 come again on the next day. Mr Binney 
 kept fussing about the room wringing his 
 . hands oyer the trouble that he had caused, 
 and bewailing the smallness of his stature 
 which debarred him from visiting summary 
 justice upon Piper for the way he had 
 
212 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 treated his son. He was a ridiculous 
 little object in his grief, and his behaviour 
 was not soothing to the nerves of a sick 
 man. 
 
 'Do get him away,' whispered Lucius 
 to Dizzy. ' I want to go to sleep ; ' and 
 the latter, by the exercise of infinite tact, 
 managed to remove Mr Binney from the 
 premises. A short time aftervfards, having 
 seen that Lucius was comfortably settled, 
 he removed himself, and then set to work 
 to lay plans to circumvent Piper and cause 
 the downfall of the Nisw Court Chronicle. 
 First of all he went round to the rooms 
 of an influential member of the Third 
 Trinity Boat Club, a man named Tait, 
 , who was rowing ' Seven ' in the University 
 boat. He found him at home, and with 
 him were Mirrilees, two other members of 
 the University crew, and our old acquaint- 
 ance Blathgowrie. To them he confided ' 
 his story, which was received with interest 
 and indignation, for Lucius was a popular 
 member of the boating set, between which 
 and the clique represented by Howden and 
 Piper there happened to be a certain 
 amount of bad blood at that particular 
 time. 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 213 
 
 'It's all the fault of that confounded 
 little bantam,' said Blathgowrie, when 
 Dizzy's tale had come to an end. ' It's 
 jolly good of Lucy to fight his battles for 
 him after the way he's treated him. I'm 
 hanged if I would.' 
 
 'Those letters are the best thing in 
 Piper's scurrilous rag,' said Tait. . 'It's a 
 pity to stop them, but if Lucy objects — and 
 I expect it was more on his own account 
 than his governor's — I think it's about 
 time the paper was suppressed. I've a 
 good mind to take Mr Piper on myself.' 
 
 ' You can't do that,' said Mirrilees quickly. 
 'You might manage to lick him, but even 
 that is doubtful, and he'd damage you so 
 that you wouldn't be able to row for a 
 day or two. Besides, if you licked him 
 once a week from now till the end of the 
 term he wouldn't stop the paper. He's 
 not that sort.' 
 
 \ It's got to be stopped somehow,' said 
 Dizzy. 
 
 'Who publishes it?' asked Blathgowrie. 
 
 ' Breedpn,' said Tait. 
 
 ' Very well, then. We'll tell him to leave 
 off, and if he don't we'll boycott him. We 
 can get everybody to go somewhere else 
 
2X4 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 for their menus and all those little jobs; 
 He won't hesitate long between us knd 
 Mr Piper, I think.' 
 
 Blathgowrie busied himself to some pur- 
 pose, and submitted to Messrs Breedon & 
 Co. a considerable list of gentlemen who 
 proposed to transfer their valuable custom 
 if another number of the New Court Chron- 
 icle appeared with Messrs Breedon's name 
 on the cover. The firm caved in at 
 once and intimated to the editor that 
 he must find another ■ publisher. , Piper 
 made himself very objectionable, but Messrs 
 Breedon & Co. were firm, and absolutely 
 refused to bring out another number for 
 him. They would have lost far more than 
 his patronage was worth if they had resisted 
 the pressure Blathgowrie brought to bear on 
 them. Piper had now got his back up 
 and swore to go on publishing his paper 
 if he brought out every number at a loss. 
 He found a more, obscure stationer th^n 
 Messrs Breedon & Co. who was willing to 
 oblige him, and went on with his editorial 
 functions, . throwing far more vigour and 
 malice irjto the next instalment of the 
 ' Binney Correspondence ' than he had done 
 before. 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN* 215 
 
 Poor Lucius lay alone' that afternoon 
 in his comfortless college bedroom. He 
 was very miserable. He felt weak 
 and ill, and his thoughts took a melan- 
 choly turn. He had done no good 
 by his single combat with the redoubtable 
 Piper; in fact, things would now probably 
 be worse than before. He had no energy 
 to feel angry with hjs father, biit he saw 
 the whole University pointing fingers of 
 scorn at him, an unpleasantness which might 
 be expected to continue and increase as long 
 as he remained at Cambridge. The hope 
 which he had entertained up to a week ago of 
 a place in the University boat no longer 
 buoyed him up against adversity. In his 
 present state of depression he saw himself 
 missing everything that made Cambridge 
 interesting to him, and heartily wished 
 himself away from the place altogether. 
 His thoughts, nowadays, seldom kept long 
 away from the girl whom he had seen for the 
 first time last term, but there was not much" 
 comfort to be got out of thinking about 
 her. He had not been so fortunate this 
 term as to have hit upon a lecture which 
 she attended, and no 'longer had the satis- 
 faction of sitting in the same room with her 
 
216 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 for an hour, twice a week. He had dis- 
 covered that she, went to a lecture at St 
 John's College, and used to hang about 
 outside the gates on the chance of seeing 
 her as she went to and fro. But there 
 are two ways between Newnhaih and St 
 John's Colleges, one along Trinity Street 
 and the King's Parade, the other past the 
 backs of the colleges, and after a time the 
 uncomfortable conviction took hold of Lucius 
 that his divinity was taking a malicious 
 delight in dodging him. If he waited out- 
 side the big gate of St John's, she went 
 home by the backs, and if he lay in wait 
 on the Bridge of Sighs, she would go 
 through the town. And upon the rare 
 occasions when he • did rheet her face to 
 face there was no sign that she was so 
 much as aware of his existence. Lying 
 on his bed, with heavy heart and throbbing 
 head, as the light of the short winter after- 
 noon slowly died, poor Lucius took the 
 gloomiest view of his chances of ever becom- 
 ing better acquainted with her. ^ 
 
 Just as he had reached the lowest possible 
 depths of depression, Mirrilees and Taif 
 came in to see him, and to sympathise. 
 They told him of Blathgowrie's strategy. 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 217 
 
 They "had not . discovered yet that Piper 
 had circumvented it, and arranged to pro- 
 duce his paper from ^ another address. 
 
 'We're going to hoot Piper in hall to- 
 night,' said Tait, ' and see if we can't bring 
 on a scrimmage afterwards. If we do, 
 we'll put him in the fountain. I expect 
 he'll oblige us. He's a pugnacious 
 beggar.' 
 
 When they had gone, he received an 
 unexpected visit from his cousin, John 
 Jermyn, who was much surprised to find 
 him in bed, and hardly knew how to express 
 himself with reference to current events. 
 In a small way, in his own college, John 
 Jermyn had suffered some annoyance from 
 his relationship to Mr Binney, and was 
 not particularly proud of it. His shy- 
 ness, however, prevented him from allud- 
 ing to his cousin's reputation. If he had 
 done so, he might have discovered that 
 Lucius, in spite of . his loyalty, was not 
 very well pleased with his father at that 
 particular time, 
 
 ' My mother is coming up next week for 
 a few days,' said Jermyn, ' and I came to 
 ask you if you would lunch with us on 
 Tuesday. There will only be she and 
 
218 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 my sister from Newijham. You haven't 
 met her yet.' 
 
 ' But surely, your sister is at Girton, 
 isn't she?' said Lucius. 
 
 * No, Newnham,' said Jermyn. 
 
 Lucius's heart suddenly lightened. Any 
 connection with Newnham was welcome 
 to him, and opened up possibilities. 
 
 'Why, I went out to Girton to call on 
 her,' said Lucius; 'they said she was out.' 
 
 * Rather lucky,' said his cousin. ' That's 
 a Miss German with a G. Well, then, 
 you'll come on Tuesday, if you're well 
 enough, at half-past one.' 
 
 ' Yes, I'll come,' said Lucius. ' Thanks 
 very much.' 
 
 When his cousin had left him he found 
 that hi^ spirits had lightened considerably. 
 The visit of his friends had cheered him, 
 for he had thought that if .he was to fight 
 his father's battles for him he would have 
 to fight them alone, , and it was pleasant 
 to find that there were others on his side. 
 And the Newnham gifl seemed to be nearer 
 to him, somehow, now he knew that she 
 and his cousin were at the same college. 
 He began to build castles in the air. He 
 knew that his cousin was in her first year, 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 219 
 
 and he thought that if his divinity had been 
 in Cambridge befotib last term, he must have 
 noticed her ; so the two were of the same 
 year, and probably friends. He might get 
 to know her through his cousin — though it 
 was difficult to see how an introduction couM 
 be brought about. At anyrate he would 
 be able to find out her name, and that 
 was something. He was rather sorry 
 that he had refused the invitation to the 
 Norfolk Rectory at Christmas. He would 
 make up for it . by cultivating his cousins 
 now. He comforted himself with rosy 
 visions, and by-and-bye fell asleep. Mr 
 Biiiney came in after, his afternoon's work 
 on the river was over, and went out again. 
 Dizzy crept in, looked at him," and crept 
 away again on tiptoe. But still Lucius slept / 
 on, and when he woke, again about nine 
 o'clock he was very much better. 
 
 In the meantime the ill-feeling between 
 the boating men and the football players, 
 fanned by Piper's ttfeatment of Lucius, had 
 burnt up to a blaze. When Piper went ' 
 into hall that night, a little late, there 
 was a chorus of "groans and hisses ■ as 
 he passed the table where Mirrilees and 
 Tait sat. He stopped for an instant, and 
 
220 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 an ugly look came over his face. The 
 groans grew louder, and the dons turned 
 round and looked down the hall from thei* 
 seats at the high tables. Then Piper went 
 to his place, the noise ceased and the 
 dons, reassured, turned to their dinner. 
 But there were ominous whisperings and 
 glances at the table where Piper sat, and 
 like signs at the table of the boating meii 
 nearer the door. The latter finished their 
 dinner early and went out in a body. When 
 they had got outside the door they waited 
 by the college screens. Men who belonged 
 to neither faction dropping out of hall 
 one by one, looked with surprise at such 
 an unexpected gathering, and passed on. 
 Some of them waited outside to see what 
 would happen. Before very long Piper 
 came out, immediately followed by Howden 
 and the rest. He looked black when he 
 saw the waiting crowd, and .then there 
 was a curious pause. Bodily violence 
 between fellow-undergraduates is a rare 
 * thing unless arising spontaneously from 
 chance collisions of opposing factions. In 
 this case there was plenty of bad feeling,., 
 but no hot blood at present, and although 
 both sides were eager for a quarrel, nobody 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 221 
 
 quite knew how to begin it. After a 
 moment's pause Piper went on towards 
 the steps leading down to Neville's Court. 
 He looked a very ugly customer. Although 
 Lucius had not succeeded in doing him a 
 fraction of the damage which he himself 
 had received, Piper had not got off quite 
 unmarked. He had a black eye and a 
 swollen cheek bone. His temper was up, 
 too, and he was probably nearer the state 
 of mind when a fight is a relief than any 
 one there. 
 
 ' Ugly bruiser ! ' remarked Tait as he 
 passed. 
 
 Piper faced him instantly. ' What's 
 that, sir!' he asked angrily. 
 
 ' I said you were an ugly bruiser, sir,' 
 answered Tait. 
 
 Piper aimed a savage blow at him before 
 the words were well out of his mouth. 
 Tait had just time to parry it. There was 
 no need for any further introduction. Ex- 
 actly where they were, with startled waiters 
 going to and fro from the kitchens to the 
 hall, and the intermittent stream of under- 
 graduates passing through, the two parties 
 fell upon one another, and the noise of the 
 combat rose above the clatter of plates and 
 
222 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 the muffled swinging of heavy doors, and 
 reached the dons on the dais at the other 
 end of the hall: 'Put him in -the fountain,' 
 shouted Mirrilees, and the struggling mass 
 surged slowly out of the doorway and down, 
 the shallow flight of steps into the Great 
 Court. Blood was* up now and there was 
 no lack of sincerity in the blows that wer6 
 given and taken. Little groups of disin- 
 terested spectators looked on at the strange 
 spectacle of men of the same college, most 
 of them well known throughout the Univer- 
 sity for their prowess in different branches 
 of sport, fighting fiercely, and grg,dually 
 drawing nearer to the great stone fountain 
 which rears its stately mass from one 
 of the grass plots. The boating men 
 had a slight advantage in numbers, 
 but the footballers were, with some 
 few exceptions,' a heavier lot, and progress 
 was slow. Piper fought savagely and 
 disabled one or two of the men who 
 were dragging him along, while his 
 friends were mostly engaged in a series of 
 single combats round him. There is no 
 knowing how the battle would have ended. 
 In spite of their slightly superior force it 
 is doubtful whether Mirrilees's and Tait's 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN* 223 
 
 party could have succeeded in inflicting the 
 punishment on Piper which they intended. 
 But before they reached the fountain a little 
 party of dons who had been apprised of 
 what was going on came running down the 
 steps of the hall towards the struggling 
 arid swaying mass. They were led by the 
 senior Dean. 'Stop this, gentlemen, stop this,' 
 he shouted, as he reached them. A few of 
 them stopped irresolutely. The rest paid 
 no attention to the order. It is doubtful 
 if they heard it. The Senior Dean, who 
 was a nian of resolution, threw himself 
 among them, followed by one or two of 
 his companions. At first there was no result, 
 except that dons and undergraduates were 
 mixed up together in one general milde. 
 But gradually the voice and energetic action 
 of authority began to tell. First one left 
 off fighting and then another, ' until Piper 
 and the men who had got hold of him 
 were the only ones still left. Deprived of 
 the assistance of his backers, Piper was 
 carried with a little run right up to the 
 steps of the fountain, but there the Dean 
 and a few stalwart Fellows who were helping 
 him managed to stop them by sheer force, 
 and the fight ceased, leaving a dishevelled, 
 
224 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 panting crowd of combatants facing one 
 another with the stern figure of judicial 
 vengeance master of the field. Names 
 were taken, orders given, and the crowd 
 slowly dispersed. The boating men held 
 the conviction that if they had been left 
 alone they would have done , wliat they 
 meant to do and avenged the defeat Piper 
 had administered to Lucius. At any rate 
 they had given him a lesson which he 
 wouldn't forget in a hurry. The football 
 men made a great deal of the fact that 
 they had been overpowered by^ superior 
 numbers. They were also greatly cheered 
 by the conviction that they had given their 
 opponents something that they wouldn't 
 forget in a hurry. 
 
 The sequel to the fracas was rather 
 curious. It resulted in an entire healing 
 up of the feud that had arisen, no one 
 quite knew how, fdr it dated from before 
 the issue of the New. Court Chronicle, 
 These quarrels between two sets of men are 
 rare in the University, but they sometimes 
 arise and continue for a year or so and 
 then die away. This • one would have dis- 
 appeared slowly in due course, because no 
 two sets of men can be said to be absolutely 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 225 
 
 clear ^nd distinct one from another, but are 
 merged at some points by friendships be- . 
 tween their respective; members, But, the 
 matter having been brought to a head by 
 the quarrel between Lucius and Piper, and 
 the bad blood let off, the ill-feeling disap- 
 peared as if by magic, and men who had 
 fought with one another on that night 
 by the fountain might have; been seen 
 in one another's rooms later on in the terni 
 the best of friends. 
 
 There was one exception to the general 
 amicability. /Piper, who was an evil- 
 tempered fellow, emerged from the tussle 
 in a black rage, and continued in it for 
 much longer than a normally constituted 
 man would have found such a state of mind 
 possible. ■ 
 
 The Senior Dean being wise in his 
 generation, and having g, fa,irly shrewd idea 
 as to how the unseemly fracas had arisen, 
 and what was likely to be its result, dealt 
 lightly with the offenders. There were a 
 good many official . interviews and a few 
 'gates,' and then, the matfer was, allowed 
 to drop. None of the combatants actually 
 told him in so many words what had been^ 
 the immediate origin of the fray, but Mr 
 
226 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Binney havitig discovered the day after that 
 Piper was more determined than , ever to 
 continue the publication of his paper,, h^d 
 paid an early visit to the Dean, and asked 
 him to suppress , it officially. He had 
 .brought the term's numbers already i'ssued 
 with hinl, and the Dean gravely perused - 
 the 'Binney Correspondence' then^ aijdi, 
 there, while the object of it sat uneasily 
 before him watching his face. 
 
 ' I don't defend this, Mr Binney,' said 
 the Dean, laying down the paper^ on his 
 table wheii he had finished them. ' A great 
 deal of it 19 very offensive. But, you know, 
 you've got yourself to thank for most, of it.' 
 
 * I know — I know,' said poor little Mr 
 Binney, whose cbck-sureness in his treat-- 
 thent of Deans and 'Tutors had been con- 
 siderably reduced of late. 'A good deal, 
 of it might fairly have been said of me 
 last term. But it isn't true of me inow. 
 With the exception of a dinner in my rooms 
 on the second night of the term, after, which 
 occurred some insubordination for which I 
 was ^ot responsible, nothing of the sort 
 mentioned here has happened. I have 
 been one of the quietest men in the college. 
 It is my fixed intention to bring an action 
 
'PUT HIM IN THE FOUNTAIN' 227 
 
 for libel against this man Piper,' he con- 
 tinued, with a slight return to his former 
 manner, ' if this goes on, and if you don't 
 see your way to stopping it, sir. It is 
 intolerable;.' 
 
 'You will not find it necessary to do 
 that, Mr Binney,' said the Dean. 'I will 
 see that it is stopped. You had better 
 leave these papers with me.' 
 
 It did not add to Piper's amiability when 
 it came to his turn to be interviewed, to be 
 told by the Dean that he had perused 
 several numbers of the New Court Chronicle, 
 and that it was about time that publication 
 came to an end. He allowed Piper to 
 argue the point, but when he found that 
 they were np nearer an agreement on it 
 than before, he told him peremptorily that 
 he had made up his mind that the pape? 
 should be stopped, and stopped it must be. 
 He pointed out several offensive articles 
 aimed at the authorities of the University 
 and Colleges, and alluded veij-y little to 
 the ' Biiiney Correspondence,' and finally 
 found it necessary to tell Mr Piper that 
 he might c^ioose between publishing another 
 number of the paper and remaining at Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
228 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 So the New Court ^ Chronicle came to 
 an end, and neither Mr Binney nor Lucius 
 suffered any further annoyances from the 
 printed expression of Piper's malice. 'The 
 effects of the hitherto published' instalments 
 of the ' Binney Correspondence,' .however, 
 did not end there "as far as Mr Binney 
 was concerned, as will afterwards appeair. 
 
CHAPTER XI! 
 
 LUCIUS MAKES ONE DISCOVERY AND MRS 
 TOLLER ANOTHER 
 
 Lucius was out and about again, not much 
 the worse for his late encounter, by the 
 time Tuesday came round, when he .was to 
 lunch with his cousin. He was in fairly 
 good spirits as he walked down the King's 
 Parade and Silver Street, towards - the 
 ancient pile of Queens' College. He and 
 his father were" better friends than they 
 had been any time since Mr Binney had 
 come into residence at Cambridge. Mr 
 Binney now comported himself with the 
 dignity that befitted his yeafs, and no longer 
 made his son's life a burden to him by those 
 continued indiscretions which had brought 
 shame and confusion- of face to Lucius in 
 the past. He had restored some of his 
 vanished allowance, and Lucius was better 
 
230 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADtJATE . 
 
 off in pocket than he had been since Mr 
 Binney had come up. And then the 
 Newnham girl, to whom somehow he seemed 
 to be getting nearer, now that he had dis- 
 covered that she and his cousin. were fellow- 
 students, had distinctly given him a glance- 
 of recognition when he had seen her in 
 King's Chapel on the previous Sunday. 
 It was not much to pride himself on,- cer- 
 ta,inly, but such as it was he had hugged the 
 thought of it ever since. She had been 
 sitting withi some other girls in the front 
 row of, seats as Lucius walked up the chapel, 
 and he had taken particular notice of 
 those other girls when he had manoeuvred 
 himself into a seat opposite her, in case 
 one of them should turn out to be his 
 cousin. 
 
 John Jermyn kept in a charming set of 
 oak-panelled rooms over-looking the river. 
 
 There was an elderly lady sitting in the 
 window seat as Lucius entered, who rose to 
 greet him. She was tall and graceful, with 
 a sweet face and grey hair. 
 
 'You are very like your dear mother,' she 
 said, her eyes grpwing a little moist as she 
 looked at him. 'We used to be great friends 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 231 
 
 in days gone by, but that is twenty years ago 
 now.' ■ 
 
 Lucius sat and talked to her in the 
 window seat, while Jphn Jermyn wandered 
 about the room with his hands in his pockets 
 casting impatient glances at the clock on 
 the mantelpiece and -the lunch on the table. 
 'Betty ''is late,' tie said. *1 told her half- 
 past one, and it is getting on for a quarter 
 to two.' 
 
 ■ 'We had better not wait any, longer,' 
 said Mrs Jermyn, rising. But just, then 
 light steps were heard on the staircase, the 
 door opened, and disclosed to Lucius's aston- 
 ished gaze the form and features of the 
 Newnham girl. 
 
 Miss Betty Jermyn came forward, rosy 
 and a little out of breath, with murmured 
 apologies, kissed her mother and her brother, 
 and then waited with a deepening blush and 
 a mischievous light in her eyes, to be intro- 
 duced to Lucius, for whom the low dark 
 room seemed suddenly to have become 
 filled with brilliant sunshine. 
 
 'This is your cousin Lucius, Betty,' said 
 Mrs Jjermyn, and the two shook hands,, 
 but found no words with which tb address 
 one another. 
 
2S2 PETER BINNEY, UNDERQRADUATE 
 
 In the course of -Itincheon it came oiit in 
 th,e most natural way that Betty and Lucius 
 had attended the sa,me .lecture in Trinity 
 College all last term, and cemembered one 
 another perfectly, 
 
 / But you must have known who I was, 
 said Lucius, a sudden light breaking in on 
 him, as he remembered those little glandes 
 of amusement, which had so thrilled his soul 
 last term. ' Gandey always used to read out 
 our names after the lecture.' 
 
 ' Yes, I knew who you were,' said Betty with 
 a little laugh. [And L wondered ' how long 
 it would be befpre you , knew who / 
 was.' 
 
 Luciuis felt that when he was alone again 
 he would be very angry with himself for not 
 having cultivated the society of his cousin 
 John more assiduously, and also for having 
 refused Mrs Jermyn's invitation to. stay with 
 them in the Christmas vacation, but at 
 present he was so happy that there was no 
 room for regrets. 
 
 It was quite apparent to the maternal eyes 
 of Mrs J ermyn before lunch was half over 
 that this nice,, boy with his mother's eyes 
 was head over ears in love with her pretty 
 little daughter, whom she still looked upon 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 233 
 
 as a child, in spite of the dignity conferred 
 upon her by a scholarship at Newnham. 
 Her son, of course, saw nothing of the sort, 
 but he was pleased to find that his cousin, 
 who was something of a hero in his eyes, 
 seemed to have taken a fancy to his sister, 
 who was apt to be a little forward, and whom 
 he found it constantly necessary to keep in 
 her place. He was afraid that Betty would 
 never learn to show reverence where reverence 
 was due, but it was a relief to find that Lucius 
 apparently did not take her little audacities 
 amiss, and indeed seemed to be even amused 
 by them. What Mrs Jermyn thought, it 
 would not become us to disclose, but she 
 accepted Lucius's invitation for the whole 
 party, to lunch with him on the next day, and 
 her cordiality towards him had suffered no 
 diminution when they parted. 
 
 It was curious that Mr Binney's nanie was 
 not once mentioned , between them. John 
 Jermyn had given his mother a rather 
 highly coloured account of our. hero's pec- 
 cadillos, and Betty had added her little 
 comments, for the fame of Mr Binney's 
 exploits had penetrated even the walls of 
 Newnham College. 
 
 'Oh, mother,' she had said, 'you really 
 
234 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 can't have anything to do with cousin Peter. 
 He is a horrid little man and leads cousin 
 Lucius such a life, so everybody says. And 
 cousin Lucius is so popular with all the 
 men. It is a great shame.' 
 
 ' I ndver cared for Mr Binney very much,' 
 said Mrs Jeirmyn, ' but I should like you to 
 ask Lucius to meet us, John. I should 
 like to see dear Lucy's bby, although I saw 
 very little of her after her marriage.' 
 
 So Lucius had come, been seen and had 
 conquered, and went away again full of de- 
 lighted wonder at the surprising thing that 
 had happened. His first desire was to find 
 the sympathetic Dizzy and impart to* him 
 the astounding news. He tracked him 
 down at the racquet courts and brought 
 him away when he had finished his 
 game. 
 
 ' I say, old man,' he said in as calm a 
 tone as he could muster, ' I've found out 
 the name of that girl at last. What do 
 you think it is ? ' 
 
 ' Oh, I don't know,' said Dizzy, who had 
 lost his match, and was as nearly inclined 
 to pessimism aS was consistent with his 
 equable nature. ' Henrietta, I should think, 
 or. Lulu,, or Kate., Parents haven't any 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 235 
 
 taste nowadays. Look at mine christening 
 me Benjamin, Stubbs is bad enough, but , 
 Benjamin ! Ton my word I sometimes 
 feel inclined to get it changed by Act of 
 Parliament.' 
 
 ' Her name is Elizabeth J—' 
 
 'Yes, it would be,' interrupted Dizzy. 
 ' Elizabeth Jones. Just what I said. Well, 
 what are you going to do about it?' 
 
 ' I didn't say , Elizabeth Jones,' said 
 Lucius. • Elizabeth is a very pretty name, 
 especially when it's shortened to Betty. 
 Her surname isn't Jones, it's Jermyn.' 
 
 'Oh, is it? Well, I'm not so sure that— r- 
 what! Jermyn!! You don't mean to say — ?' 
 
 ' Yes, I do,' said Lucius triumphantly. 
 ' That very girl is my cousin at Newnham, 
 and no other.' * 
 
 'Well, I'm blowed!' exclaimed Dizzy. 
 'But there, Lucy, I always told you if 
 you'd only take the trouble to hunt your 
 cousin down, or rather up, she'd turn out 
 to be a topper. And I was right. When 
 are you going to have her to tea?' 
 
 ' She's coming to lunch to-morrow,' said 
 Lucius. 
 
 ' I'm engaged to-morrow, I'm afraid/ said 
 
236 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Dizzy. 'Going to lunch with Blathgowrie. 
 I daresay I could get off it, though,' • 
 
 'You needn't try,' said Lucius ; 'but I'll 
 get her to tea some day soon, before her 
 mother goes away, and then you can come ; - 
 only it's no use your trying to cut me out, 
 because I shall get double the chances you 
 will. Oh, my goodness! What a chance 
 for a fellow! to be h'ead over ears in > love 
 with a girl, and think he's never going to 
 get to know her, and then for her to turn 
 out to be his own cousin after all.' 
 
 ' Did she say anything about me ? ' in- 
 quired Dizzy. 
 
 ' About you ? No. Why should she ? ' 
 
 'Why shouldn't she, you mean. I'm 
 a very striking looking feller. She must 
 have noticed me in the lecture-room last 
 term,' 
 
 'You needn't trouble yourself that she'll 
 'waste many thoughts on you.' 
 
 ' Oh, all right, old man. Keep your wool 
 on. Now, don't forget to ask me to tea 
 one of these days. I won't try and cut 
 you out, you can rely on me.' 
 
 The remainder of that week passed like 
 a happy dream to Lucius. He managed 
 to spend some time every day with his 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 237 
 
 cousins, . found his way right inside Mrs 
 Jermyh's heart, and seemed to make very 
 good headway up to a certain point with 
 Betty. That is to say, they became ex- 
 cellent friends, and were on perfectly familiar 
 terms, but at the end pf the week he was 
 no nearer knowing whethier she reciprocated 
 his admiration than, at the beginning, for 
 beyond a certain point he was never 
 allowed to go. When iSaturday came, 
 Mrs Jermyn went away and left Lucius 
 desolated. But she had already asked 
 him to stay with them in Norfolk during 
 the Easter vacation, and he was left 
 in by no means such a state of hope- 
 less longing as before, for he managed 
 to meet his cousin pretty often during 
 the rest of the term, and although he 
 was never allowed to , enjoy the pleasure 
 of her company for very long, she seldom 
 met him without a few words of conversa- 
 tion passing between them, which gave 
 Lucius ■ something tp live for now that the 
 University boat had gone to Putney and 
 left him behind in Cambridge. 
 
 Mrs Jermyn had not been able to avoid. 
 Mr Binney altogether during her stay at 
 Cambridge, She thought that she ought 
 
238 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 to see something of him now that his son 
 seemed likely to become an intimate friend 
 in her family. Accordingly Mr Binney was 
 notified of her arrival, and called on her 
 at the ' Bull ' where she was staying. Mr 
 Binney had not yet recovered the events 
 narrated in the last two chapters, and was 
 in a depressed and dull state of mind. He 
 quite forgot to patronize Mrs Jermyn on 
 the fact of her son being a scholar of 
 Queens' College, while he was a pensioner 
 of Trinity, which was just as well, as he 
 might have offended her if he had done 
 so, as he certainly would a few months 
 before. Mrs Jermyn talked chiefly about 
 his wife, and Mr Binney, who had been a 
 widower for fifteen years, and had set up 
 the image of Mrs Higginbotham in the 
 niche left vacant by the de^th of Lucius's 
 mother, followed her lead with some un- 
 easiness of mind. There was no warmth of 
 feeling between them, and each was mutu- 
 ally relieved when Mr Binney rose to take 
 his leave. He apologised for not asking 
 his cousins to lunch, but explained that he 
 bad to be down on the river early every 
 afternoon, and Mrs Jermyn was not sorry 
 that the invitation was not given. 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 239 
 
 Mr Binney, of course, still corresponded 
 regularly with Mrs Higginbotham. He had 
 refrained from sending her the New Court 
 Chronicle, or, indeed, from nientioning that 
 feature of it which most nearly concerned him, 
 for some slight sense of dignity which he had 
 appeared to have relinquished during the 
 Michaelmas term had returned to . him, 
 and he was not anxious to have it known 
 that he was treated with ridicule. He 
 wrote about ' his work and about the 
 prospects of the First Trinity first Lent 
 boat, and if his letter did betoken a de- 
 pression o£ spirits, the tender Mrs Higgin- 
 botham put this down to his separation 
 from her and threw q, wealth of affection 
 and sympathy into her replies, which 
 greatly consoled Mr Binney during this 
 trying time. She also expressed herself 
 delighted with the improvement in conduct 
 displayed by her undergraduate lover, for, 
 although Mrs Higginbotham liked to read 
 stories of youthful daring and devilry, when 
 theory resolved itself into practice her 
 mind recoiled affrighted. Mr Binney was 
 fond of imagery, and he often assured Mrs 
 Higginbotham at this time that her love 
 and confidence in him was the rock to 
 
240 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 which he clung while the waves of adversity 
 buffeted him ; it was also an anchor, and 
 a port, and a city of refuge; a ray of 
 sunshine, a star, a beacon, a lantern ; a 
 refreshing fountain^ an oasis in the desert, 
 a cup of cold water ; a buckler, and. a good 
 many other things. Mrs Higginbotham 
 made no attempt to discover what the 
 waves of adversity were that were reported 
 to be buffeting Mr Binney. She liked 
 his poetical method of expressing himself; 
 she sard it made her feel warm all over, 
 and there she let the matter rest. 
 
 But there was a serpent in this garden 
 of mutual esteem, If Mrs Higginbotham 
 did riot read the New Court Chronicle and 
 was ignorant of the dreadful things that 
 were being said about her Peter, there was 
 someone else who was fully acquainted with 
 them, 
 
 The day after Mr Binney 's dinner-party 
 in Russell Square, Mrs Toller called 
 upon Mrs Higginbotham, as she had an- 
 nounced her intention of doing. She waited 
 for ten minutes alone in the drawing-room 
 before Mrs Higginbotham made her ap- 
 pearance. The first three or four she spent 
 in refreshing her memory of the contents 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 241 
 
 of the room. Then, growing bolder, she 
 inspected the contents of Mrs Higgin- 
 botham's Davenport writing-table, without, 
 however, discovering ' anything that inter- 
 ested her. Thinking she heard a step on 
 the stair she seated herself quickly beside 
 the fire and snatched up, a paper from the 
 little table by her side. Nobody came, and 
 Mrs Toller then turning over the little pile 
 of periodicals, lighted upon the creased 
 copy of the New Court Chronicle which 
 Mr Binney had posted from Cambridge. 
 ' Well ! upon my word ! ' exclaimed Mrs 
 Toller to herself when she had perused the 
 paragraph in ' Madge's Letter ' already re- 
 ferred to. She then turned to the title 
 page of the paper and made a! note of the 
 publisher's address on the little ivory tablet 
 she carried in her purse. When she had 
 done that she heard Mrs Higginbotham 
 approaching, so, hastily burying the New 
 Court Chronicle under the pile and taking 
 up The Christian World instead, she af- 
 fected to be so deeply interested in its 
 varied contents as to be unaware of Mrs* 
 Higginbotham's approach until that good 
 lady had closed the door behind her and 
 begun to make apologies for her delay, 
 
 Q 
 
242 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 which had arisen through the arrival of a 
 dressmaker to ' try on.' 
 
 When Cambridge University had once 
 more got into the swing of term time, 
 there appeared every Monday morning 
 among Mrs Toller's correspondence, a 
 wrapper enclosing a paper directed from 
 that ancient seat of learning, Mrs Toller 
 always secreted this and opened it after 
 breakfast when the Doctor had retired to 
 his study, for her subscription to the New 
 Court Chronicle cost her sixpence half- 
 penny a week, which was more than 
 the good Doctor paid for having the Daily 
 Chronicle served up hot with his break- 
 fast every morning. University journalism 
 is not apt to afford great entertainment to 
 people who are not concerned with matters 
 which interest men at Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge, but Mrs Toller, although a woman 
 ■ of economical habits, counted the informa- 
 tion which she derived from the Neiu Court 
 Chronicle cheap at the price which she paid 
 for her subscription, and looked forward 
 keenly to the budget of news which arrived 
 for her every Monday morning. 
 
 It must not be supposed that Mrs Toller 
 intended to keep her information from her 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 243 
 
 excellent husband ; she was far too good 
 a wife for that. What she meant to do was 
 to keep the New Court Chronicle to herself 
 until the end of the term in order that 
 Mr Binney's infamies might heap them- 
 selves up until she had a good budget of 
 scandal to lay before the Doctor. The 
 game went merrily on for four or five 
 weeks and there was matter of offence 
 against Mr Binney enough to have brought 
 down upon him the wrath of the whole con- 
 gregation of which he was so distinguished 
 a member. But Mrs Toller's appetite, 
 whetted by the disclosure she had already 
 surprised, thirsted for more. More she 
 would have had, for Mr Piper had got 
 his hand thoroughly in, but, as we know, 
 the New Court Chronicle had come to an 
 untimely end, and great was Mrs Toller's 
 disappointment when she received, one 
 Monday morning, instead of the journal 
 she had so looked forward to during the 
 whole of the Sunday's religious exercises, 
 a letter from the publisher informing her 
 that the publication had ceased, and that 
 he .begged to return to her the remainder 
 of the term's subscription. However, there 
 was quite enough upon which to act. 
 
244 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 The Doctor retired to his study as usual 
 after breakfast. Mrs Toller got her 
 daughter out of the way, produced the 
 numbers she had already received, and' re- 
 freshed her memory of the whole of the 
 ' Binney Correspondence.' Then she sought 
 her husband who was taking a well-earned 
 rest after his Sabbath labours over a novel, 
 which he hastily secreted upon the entrance 
 of his wife. 
 
 'What's that you're reading, Samuel?' 
 said Mrs Toller. ' I shouldn't waste my 
 time over that trash if I were you. I've 
 got an injportant matter to talk to you 
 about.' 
 
 Dr Toller breathed a sigh of resignation. 
 He knew those important matters. If they 
 were not complaints of the behaviour of 
 various members of his congregation, they 
 were generally household matters in which 
 he evinced no interest, and which Mrs 
 Toller could very well have settled for 
 herself. 
 
 ' You know how deep an interest I take 
 in the welfare of the church,' began Mrs 
 Toller, seating herself in the easy chair 
 by the side of the fire. 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 245 
 
 Dr Toller knew only too well. 'Yes, 
 my dear, certainly,' he said. 
 
 • I should be very sorry/ pursued Mrs 
 Toller, 'if any scandal occurred through 
 the behaviour of one of our most prominent 
 members, especially when he happens to 
 be a deacon,' 
 
 'Yes, my dear,' interrupted Dr Toller 
 hastily, 'but I think that is hardly likely 
 to happen. All our deacons are men of 
 irreproachable character.' 
 
 ' I am not so sure about that,' said Mrs 
 Toller. ' There is one of them who seems 
 to be rapidly treading the broad road, and 
 if he is not very sharply pulled up, I 
 tremble to think of the catastrophe that 
 may occur,' 
 
 ' Oh, nonsense, my dear,' said Dr Toller, 
 'You must surely be exaggerating. There 
 is an occasional tendency towards undue in- 
 terference on the part of our officers, who 
 are some of them men of more money than 
 brains, although I wouldn't for the world 
 have it known that I said so. But I have 
 no reason to dread anything worse than 
 that. You have got hold of some trivial 
 matter and are magnifying it in your mind 
 — quite unintentionally, I am sure,' he added 
 
246 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 hastily, observing the ominous stiffening 
 of Mrs Toller's upper lip, ' and with the best 
 of intentions, I am sure.' 
 
 ' I am not aware,' said Mrs Toller, draw- 
 ing herself up, ' that drunkenness is a trivial 
 matter, Samuel, or revelry. If it is so, I 
 have misread the meaning of Scripture, and 
 I should be glad to be corrected.' 
 
 'Of course, my dear,' said Dr Toller, 
 'such things are very dreadful, but you 
 have surely no reason to charge one of our 
 deacons with such — er — crimes.' 
 
 ' Read the passages I have marked with 
 blue pencil in these papers,' said Mrs Toller, 
 rising and handing the doctor her little 
 bundle of ephemeral journalism. ' And then 
 say if you can justly accuse me of exaggera- 
 tion, which I beg to say is not a habit of 
 mine. I will leave you for a quarter of an 
 hour and then return.' 
 
 When Mrs Toller did return she found 
 the Doctor chuckling over some of the 
 humorous sallies of Mr Piper's young 
 lions. 
 
 ' Samuel ! ' she exclaimed, ' is that the 
 fashion in which you treat a serious matter 
 like this ? Such ill-timed levity is surely 
 out of place.' 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 247 
 
 ' Quite so, my dear, quite so,' said her 
 husband, his face instantly becoming serious. 
 ' I was not laughing at the news about 
 Mr Binney, which I finished perusing some 
 time ago. Some of these young men are 
 very clever. But really, with regard to Mr 
 Binney, I fully share your feeling, my dear. 
 Mr Binney has always been rather erratic, 
 curiously so for a man of his years and 
 position, but I could never have believed 
 that this sort of thing would happen. I — 
 I — hardly know what to say about it. But 
 how did you get hold of these papers ? ' 
 
 ' Never mind that,' said Mrs Toller firmly. 
 ' We must act, and act promptly so as to save 
 scandal' 
 
 Dr Toller disliked acting at all on 
 Monday morning, but he saw that his 
 wife was not to be trifled with, and said, 
 'Certainly. Yes. I quite agree with you. 
 What shall I do?' 
 
 ' You must go up to Cambridge in- 
 stantly, and remonstrate with the misguided 
 man.' 
 
 Dr Toller looked blank. ' Do you think 
 that is necessary ? ' he asked. ' I should 
 have thought a letter would have answered 
 the purpose.' 
 
248 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 'Not at all,' said Mrs Toller. 'Mr 
 Binney is in that state oif mind in which 
 he would take no notice of a letter. Severe 
 expostulation and ghostly advice are what 
 he wants. He must be checked in, his 
 profligate career at all costs, or worse may 
 come oi" it. I should go with you, but 
 I have my mothers' meeting this after- 
 noon, and I am not one to neglect my 
 duty.' 
 
 ' But, surely, my dear,' exclaimed the 
 Doctor, ' you would not wish me to go to 
 Cambridge to-day? ' 
 
 ' Certainly I should,' replied Mrs Tollef. 
 'Why procrastinate? And yet, I don't 
 know. To - morrow perhaps I could ac- 
 company you. Perhaps there is no neces- 
 sity.' 
 
 ' If it has to be done,' said Dr Toller, 
 ' perhaps it had better be done to-day. It 
 is not a pleasant business, but I agree with 
 you that the gravity of the occasion demands 
 immediate action, and I shall not shrink 
 from taking it. I am really astounded at 
 the disclosures made in these papers. If 
 the extraordinary course Mr Binney appears 
 to have taken were to come to the ears of 
 the church committee, I don't know what 
 
LUCIUS MAKES A DISCOVERY 249 
 
 would happen. I will go to Cambridge 
 after the ladies' Bible class this afternoon, 
 and I think I will stay the night, my dear. 
 I should like to have a look round the 
 colleges, that is if you have no objec- 
 tion.' 
 
 'Yes, you can do that,' said Mrs Toller, 
 'if you liku. Aiid you might call on 
 Lucius and see how he is behaving him- 
 self, and on young Bromley, at Emanuel 
 College. And mind, Samuel, I shall expect 
 a full account from you wh^n you return 
 home.' 
 
 So Dr Toller packed his bag and travelled 
 up to Cambridge by the five o'clock train. 
 He drove first of all to Corpus where he 
 had a friend among the Fellows. He was 
 persuaded to dine in Hall before he set out 
 on his visit to Mr Binney, and enjoyed 
 himself exceedingly at the High Table, and 
 in the Combination room afterwards. He 
 did not disclose his object in coming up to 
 Cambridge, but heard quite enough about 
 the extraordinary career of Mr Binney, 
 who enjoyed considerable notoriety at the 
 University, to persuade him that his visit 
 of expostulation was really needed. About 
 nine o'clock he told his host that he wished 
 
250 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 to call on an undergraduate, and putting 
 on his clerical cloak and soft hat, he went 
 round to Trinity College, where he was 
 directed by the porter to Mr Binney's rooms 
 in Jesus Lar.%:. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 
 
 Since the dinner at the beginning of the 
 term Mr Binney had done nothing further 
 to bring him under the displeasure of the 
 authorities. Howden, in return for the 
 pecuniary assistance he had received, kept 
 his noisy friends away from him almost 
 entirely, and so managed it that none of 
 them considered himself ill-used by the 
 cessa,tion of Mr Binney's former hospitalities. 
 He worked very hard, and if the absence of 
 his previous amusements did make life rather 
 dull to him, the excitement of the coming 
 Lent races and the probability that the crew 
 he was steering would give a good account 
 ^of themselves buoyed him up. Everything 
 went well, the men were trained to a nicety, 
 and most of them were confident that the 
 boat would go head of the river. On the 
 
252 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 morning of the races Mr Binney was too 
 nervous to work. He attended one lecture, 
 but found himself quite incapable of dis- 
 covering any meaning in the lecturer's re- 
 marks. After that he relinquished the 
 attempt to turn his mind to anything apart 
 from boat-racing, and wandered about the 
 town, with his hands in his pockets, looking 
 the picture of misery. By-and-bye it oc- 
 curred to him to pay a visit to his son and 
 to try and extract some consolation from 
 that experienced oarsman. He found Lucius 
 engaged over a game of piquet with the 
 ever-cheerful Dizzy. Lucius looked rather 
 ashamed of himself when his father entered, 
 but Dizzy was not at all put out. 
 
 ' Ah, Mr Binney,' he exclaimed, ' very 
 pleased to see you. We are just unbend- 
 ing our great minds a little. All work and 
 no play, you know, won't do at all.' 
 
 But reprehensible as card playing at 
 twelve o'clock in the morning undoubtedly 
 is, Mr Binney made no comment upon his 
 son's occupation. 
 
 ' I am terribly nervous, Lucius,' he said.^ 
 ' I wish tHIs afternoon was well over.' 
 
 ' What ! Got the needle ! ' exclaimed 
 Dizzy, while Lucius cleared away the cards. 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 253 
 
 ' Well, I'm not surprised at it. My old 
 governor once had to make a political 
 speech. He don't know anything about 
 politics, but the big man had disappointed 
 'em, and they couldn't get anybody bigger 
 at a day's notice. I assure you he got so 
 nervous that he lost the use of his limbs and 
 had to be massaged for an hour before he 
 went off to the meeting, and when he got 
 there he made such a hash of it that nobody's 
 ever asked him to talk since, although he 
 frequently obliges when he airit asked.' 
 
 'Political speaking is nothing to this,' 
 said Mr Binney. ' I know all about that. 
 When I put up for the County Council two 
 years ago, I had to make a speech every 
 night of my life for a fortnight, and I enjoyed 
 it, although I didn't get in, but I feel so 
 nervous now that I really don't know what 
 to do.' 
 
 ' You will be all right, father,' said Lucius, 
 ♦when you find yourself sitting in the boat ; 
 with the rudder lines in your hand. Make 
 a good lunch and forget all about it till it's > 
 time to go down to the river. I should take 
 a glass ,of brandy if I were you. It'll pull 
 you together, and can't do you any harm as 
 you're not rowing.' 
 
254 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' Brandy, Lucy ! ' echoed Dizzy, ' the very 
 worst thing you could possibly take. Don't 
 you remember little Dale who coxed the 
 eight at Eton. When he was in the lower 
 boats he got the needle to such an extent 
 that he cried all the morning. Some fellow 
 gave him half a glass of brandy. It made 
 him as merry as a cricket. He said he 
 didn't care for anybody, but he forgot which 
 was his right hand and which was his left, 
 and steered 'em into the bank before they 
 had rowed twenty strokes.' 
 
 ' I am not likely to do that, Stubbs,' said 
 Mr Binney, slightly offended. ' I'm not a 
 child. I'm a man with a head on my 
 shoulders, as Mirrilees has often told me, 
 but all the same I wish it were all 
 over.' 
 
 Just then Mirrilees himself came into the 
 room and looked a little disturbed at find- 
 ing Mr Binney there. It was quite easy to 
 treat him as a freshman of no importance 
 when he was by himself, but in the presence 
 of his son Mirrilees found the position awk- 
 ward. 
 
 ' You're bound to catch Pembroke to-night, 
 I think,' he said shyly, 'and I should cer- 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 255 
 
 tainly think you will go head on Saturday 
 if everything goes well' 
 
 ' I feel so nervous, you know, Mirrilees,' 
 said poor little Mr Binney. ' It's all very 
 well for you young fellows who are used to 
 it, but it's all new to me, and it's no use pre- 
 tending I feel at my ease.' 
 
 *0h, for heaven's sake don't lose your 
 liead,' said Mirrilees anxiously, ' or Third 
 will bump you to a certainty. They're not 
 so good as you are, but they always go oft 
 with a rush, and may hustle you a bit at 
 first. If they don't catch you before Grassy 
 you'll keep away all right, and ought to run 
 into Pembroke at Ditton Corner.' 
 
 ' Third's pretty good,' said Lucius. 
 ' They're not to be sneezed at. We gener- 
 ally row faster than we are expected to.' 
 
 Then followed a long discussion between 
 Lucius and Mirrilees upon the respective 
 merits of the two boats, which was not 
 calculated to allay Mr Binney's nervousness, 
 so he took his leave, and wandered about 
 again until lunch time, more disconsolate 
 than ever. A hundred times he wished he 
 had never joined a boat club and even that 
 he had never come up to Cambridge. He 
 passed a very trying few hours until it was 
 
256 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 time to go down to the boat-house. During 
 the long row down to the starting-post 
 he discovered that he had not entirely 
 forgotten all that he had learnt about the 
 art of steering and felt a little better, but 
 when the crew got out of the boat and 
 waited about in the drizzling fain for the first 
 gun his fears returned and he was unable 
 to take any part in the mild horse-play with 
 which the rest of the crew beguiled the 
 interval. The bustle of getting into the 
 boat again and seeing that everything 
 was right with stretchers, ' rowlocks, and 
 steering-gear, revived him a little, but 
 during that awful minute before the last 
 gun, when the boat was shoved out and 
 the men sat forward with every nerve on 
 edge, while the coach stood on the bank, 
 watch in hand, telling off the relentless 
 seconds, Mr Binney's face of gloom and 
 despair was a picture to behold. He was 
 convinced that he was going to drop the 
 chain so that it would foul the rudder lines, 
 or not drop it at all, or pull the wrong string, 
 or perform one of those mistakes to which 
 the best of coxswains are liable at these 
 terrible moments. But the gun went off 
 at last, and before Mr Binney had time to 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 257 
 
 realise that they were fairly off, the boat 
 was swinging down the river and he himself 
 was steering as straight as an arrow towards 
 the vivid blue of the Pembroke cox's blazer, 
 feeling as capable and clear-headed as he 
 had ever done in his life. At first it seemed 
 almost iinpossible to believe that they would 
 ever make up the distance which lay be- 
 tween them and the boat which was mov- 
 ing along so steadily in front of them. 
 But they had not rowed twenty strokes 
 before Mr Binney realised that they were 
 slowly creeping up. A wild exultation took 
 hold of him. ' We're gaining ! ' he cried. 
 Stroke's face was immovable, but he quick- 
 ened up slightly. Another thirty strokes 
 and there was only a length between the 
 two boats. Then Pembroke spurted and 
 began to draw away. Mr Binney's face 
 fell. ' We're losing ground ! ' he said, but 
 Stroke made no answer. His eyes were 
 fixed upon something past Mr Binney's 
 head, and our hero suddenly, woke up to the 
 fact that the cries of : ' Third ! Third ! ' 
 which came front the, bank behind him, 
 were now much nearer and ■ almost as 
 loud as those of ' First ! First ! ' from their 
 own supporters alongside. A panic seized 
 
 R 
 
258 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 him, and he quickly turned his head and 
 saw the nose of the Third Trinity boat 
 within six feet of his own. As he did so, 
 he unconsciously pulled one of his strings 
 and the pursuing boat shot up to within 
 two feet. 
 
 ' Steady, there, steady ! ' growled Stroke, 
 with an awful frown. 
 
 Mr Binney pulled himself together and 
 set his teeth, determined to think of nothing 
 but the Pembroke boat, which had now in- 
 creased its lead to a length and a half. 
 
 * How far are they ahead ? ' asked Stroke, 
 in a low voice. 
 
 Mr Binney told him. Stroke quickened 
 up and Mr Binney had the delight of feeling 
 the boat shoot away under him, while a tre- 
 mendous roar from the men on the bank 
 told him that Third Trinity was being left 
 behind and that all danger of being bumped 
 by them was over for the present. Up and 
 up went the boat ; the length and a half 
 was lessened to a length, then to half a 
 length, then to a few feet. The Pembroke 
 stroke quickened, and drew away for a few 
 seconds, but the spurt soon died down. 
 First Trinity went on gaining. The Pem- 
 broke cox began to wash them off with his 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 259 
 
 rudder. They had now reached the Red 
 Grind, and Ditton Corner was close ahead. 
 Mr Binney bided his time and crept in a 
 trifle closer to the bank. The nose of his 
 boat began to dance up alongside the stern 
 of the one in front. Then the Pembroke 
 cox made a mistake and steered out into 
 the river. 'We've got them,' yelled Mr 
 Binney. Stroke made a mighty effort, which 
 was answered by Pembroke, too late, for 
 the Trinity boat was shaving the corner, 
 while they were right out in the river. Mr 
 Binney held his course until the nose of his 
 boat was level with No. 5's rigger. Then 
 he pulled his left string sharply and ran 
 into them, just behind their coxswain's seat. 
 
 ' Well steered,' said Stroke quietly, as 
 he rested on his oar. ' Couldn't have been 
 done better.' And Mr Binney tasted the 
 joys of paradise. 
 
 The next dg.y Mr Binney's nervousness 
 had vanished entirely. He thirsted to be 
 again in the fray, and looked forward keenly 
 to repeating the triumph of the previous 
 afternoon. Needless to say he wrote a long, 
 exultant letter to Mrs Higginbotham, re- 
 counting his success and the honour it had 
 brought him. Lucius and Dizzy came round 
 
260 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 in the morning to congratulate him and to 
 wish him luck in the coming race. 
 
 'Of course I wish Third had bumped 
 them,' said Lucius, as they walked down 
 Jesus Lane together, * but still the governor 
 would have been so sorry for himself that 
 it's just as well they didn't.' 
 
 ' You would have had your screw docked, 
 Lucy, if Third had caught them,' said Dizzy, 
 •so you may consider yourself jolly lucky 
 they kept away.' 
 
 * Oh, that's all over now,' said Lucius. 
 'The governor behaves much more re- 
 spectably than he did last term. If that 
 business had gone on I really don't think 
 I could have stopped up here.' 
 
 Mr Binney received their congratulations 
 with equanimity. He had jumped from 
 the depths of self-distrust to the height of 
 complaisance, and now felt that if he had 
 gone to Putney with the University crew 
 the victory of Cambridge over Oxford 
 would have been assured. 
 
 ' Oh, it's as simple as anything,' he said, 
 in answer to their congratulations. ' I can't 
 think what ever can have made me feel so 
 nervous yesterday.' 
 
 ' Don't you be too cocksure about it, 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 261 
 
 Mr Binney,' said Dizzy. ' I knew a fellow 
 once who rode in a steeplechase. He'd 
 got by far the best nag, and the odds were 
 four to one on hirri. But he was so certain 
 of winning that he forgot he was riding in 
 a race at all, and got off to pick a flower 
 after he had jumped the first hurdle. By 
 the time he remembered where he was and 
 got on again, the other fellows had reached 
 the winning post. The bookies nearly 
 murdered him.' 
 
 Mr Binney was not in a frame of mind 
 to take warning by this awful example of 
 forgetfulness. He was so talkative in the 
 changing room that he was severely snubbed 
 by the Captain of the boat. Jesus, the boat 
 in front of them this evening, ought to have 
 presented no difficulties and would certainly 
 have been caught by Pembroke in the 
 long reach if First Trinity had not made 
 their bump at Ditton. Mr Binney steered^ 
 very badly at Grassy and lost a lot of 
 ground. His steering round Ditton Corner 
 was a little better, but nothing like so good 
 as on the previous evening, and again Jesus 
 got away. First Trinity made their bump 
 at the railway bridge, but the men had had 
 a hard race instead of a very easy one, and 
 
262 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 some unpleasant things were said to our 
 hero when the race was at last over. 
 
 The next day Mr Binney had learned a 
 lesson, steered well, and caught Lady 
 Margaret at Ditton much in the same 
 way as Pembroke had been bumped on 
 the first night. 
 
 First Trinity were now in the second 
 place on the river, and had their work 
 cut out for them to bump Trinity Hall 
 on the last night. It was generally agreed 
 that they were slightly the better boat, 
 but whether they were good enough to 
 overcome the advantage that the head 
 boat always has in rowing in clear water, 
 was a disputed point. They had at any 
 rate nothing to fear from the boat behind 
 them. Mr Binney's previous experience 
 had brought him into the right state of 
 mind to enable him to do his best. The 
 three bumps he had already made had 
 given him confidence, and his mistakes of 
 the second night preserved him from being 
 over-confident. First Trinity made up their 
 distance by the time they had reached the 
 Red Grind, and from that time there was 
 never more than a few feet of daylight 
 between the two boats until the end of 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 263 
 
 the race. At Ditton they overlapped, but 
 Mr Binney made his shot too early, and 
 the Hall just managed to keep away. The 
 enthusiasm from the supporters of the 
 Crescent, standing or running on the banks, 
 had the effect of steadying Mr Binney's 
 nerves. A ding-dong race ensued, right up 
 the Long Reach,^ but with all their exertion 
 the First Trinity men were unable to de- 
 crease their distance. At the railway bridge 
 the nose of the pursuing boat was a foot 
 past the rudder of the other. But Mr 
 Binney knew that if he made a shot at 
 them now all was lost. ' Plug it in,' he 
 said in a low voice to Stroke, ' and 
 we've got them.' Stroke did plug it in. 
 He was nobly seconded in one last despair- 
 ing effort by the men behind him. The 
 nose of the First Trinity boat crept slowly 
 but surely up, Mr Binney pulled his left 
 line just in the nick of time, and First 
 Trinity bumped the head boat not a dozen 
 yards from the winning post. 
 
 A very proud man was Mr Binney that 
 evening when everything was over, when 
 they had rowed back to the boat-house 
 with the heavy flag flapping behind them 
 and the cheering crowd of men" accom- 
 
264 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 panying them on the bank. When he had 
 changed and gone home to his rooms with 
 the pleasures of an amusing bump supper 
 in the hall before him, he sat down in 
 front of his fire and went over in his mind 
 the causes for self-congratulation. At last 
 he had done something which raised him 
 out of the 1 common ruck of University men. 
 Something that could never be taken away 
 from him. He saw in imagination his 
 rudder with the Trinity coat-of-arms, the 
 names and weights of the qrew and the 
 cox, and the conquered colleges emblazoned 
 upon it hanging up in his hall in Russell 
 Square. His imagination did not stop 
 there. He saw other rudders nailed up 
 by its side, of which at least one should 
 bear the combined arms of' Oxford and 
 Cambridge. He felt that he had acquitted 
 himself so as to earn him Mrs Higgin- 
 botham's undying admiration, and visited 
 a telegraph ofifice immediately upon his 
 return in order to send that excellent woman 
 the earliest information of his brilliant 
 achievement. 
 
 At the bump supper that evening Mr 
 Binney was the gayest of the gay. He 
 did not exceed his usual- allowance of 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 265 
 
 wine. This, in spite of the unmannerly 
 taunts of the New Court Chronicle, he had 
 never yet done and would have been 
 ashamed of doing. But he was so excited 
 by his success that other members of the 
 party who had not been so careful as him- 
 self gave him full credit for having done 
 so, and laughed uproariously at his sallies 
 of wit, clapped him vigorously on the back, 
 and displayed all the usual signs of the 
 best of good fellowship. Mr Binney made 
 a speech. He always did make a speech 
 whenever there was an opportunity. He 
 said that this was the proudest moment of 
 his life. (Cheers.) He should despise 
 himself if he thought otherwise. (Cheers). 
 He thought that the cox was the most 
 important man in a boat. (Loud cries of 
 'No! No!' and laughter.) Well, if he 
 wasn't the most important, at any rate, 
 they couldn't get, on without him, and he 
 was very proud to find himself in a position 
 of that sort. He had had triumphs in his 
 life before now (cheers and laughter), but 
 they were as nothing to this. He didn't 
 know how to say enough about itj although 
 he was used to public speaking. (Laughter, 
 crie^ of ' Union.') Some gentleman had 
 
266 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 mentioned the word ' Union.' Well, he had 
 thought at one time that success at the 
 Union was the best sort of success that 
 Cambridge could afford. He didn't think 
 so now. Give him success on the river — 
 he would leave all the rest to gentleriien 
 not so fortunate as himself. (Loud applause 
 and cries of 'Sit down.') He saw around 
 him a great many friends. (Laughter.) He 
 hoped he might call them friends. (Cries of 
 ' Certainly,' ' By all means.') They were 
 all jolly good fellows, and so say all of us. 
 (Cheers.) He had said before that this 
 was the proudest moment of his life. He 
 would say it again. (Laughter, and the 
 rest of Mr Binney's speech, which he ap- 
 peared to be about to begin all over again, 
 was drowned by vociferous cheers which were 
 gradually rounded off into ' For he's a jolly 
 good fellow,' sung in chorus by everyone 
 present.) 
 
 At the close of the evening, just before 
 twelve o'clock, as Mr Binney was going 
 out of college, arm-in-arm with two jovial 
 companions, the gate was opened to admit 
 Piper and one or two more football players, 
 who had gained a great victory over Dublin 
 University that afternoon in the last match 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 26T 
 
 of the season, and had since celebrated the 
 occasion by a more protracted dinner than 
 was good for them. Piper was, in fact, 
 very drunk, and his potations always had 
 the effect of making him extremely quarrel- 
 some. At this particular juncture he was, 
 in American phraseology, 'looking for 
 trouble.' He found it in the obnoxious 
 person of his late butt, Mr Binney, who 
 came towards him smiling, his gown put on 
 inside out, over^ his somewhat disordered 
 evening clothes. The sight of Mr Binney 
 roused Piper's smouldering ill-humour to the 
 point of frenzy. With a muttered execra- 
 tion he went for our hero. Mr Binney saw 
 him coming, and with a shriek of terror, 
 turned round, loosening his hold upon his 
 two companions, and fled terrified back 
 towards the hall. Piper gave a yell, and 
 started off in chase, but lost his footing at 
 the two steps leading into the Court, and 
 enabled Mr Binney to get a clear start as 
 far as the fountain, before his pursuer was 
 up and after him again. His two friends 
 made no attempt to protect him. They 
 shrieked with laughter at the ridiculous 
 spectacle, and rolled about doubled up in 
 their ecstasy of amusement. But fortunately 
 
268 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 for Mr Binney the Great Court was full 
 of his late companions of the feast. ' Save 
 me, save me ! ' ci-ied the poor little man, 
 as he ran towards a group of them near 
 the kitchen staircase. Piper was still a 
 bite noir to a great many of the rowing 
 men, although with his exception the feud 
 between oarsmen and footballers was now 
 quite healed. Mr Binney ran through the 
 astonished group, down the narrow passage 
 leading into the Hostels, They closed up 
 their ranks and let Piper run into- them. 
 There was great confusion for the moment, 
 and cries of ' Now then, sir, where are you 
 coming to?' and the like. Piper forgot 
 for the moment where he was going to, and 
 in the meantime his companions came up. 
 One of them was Howden, who was in the 
 effusive after-dinner stage. 
 
 ' You're the fellows who went head of the. 
 river, ain't you?' he cried. 'You're jolly 
 noble fellows all the lot of you, and I shall 
 be proud to shake hands with you all round. 
 We're the fellows who have beaten the 
 Irishmen by two goals and a try to nothing. 
 And that's all right, isn't it ? ' 
 
 It appeared to be all right, certainly, 
 for the two groups immediately fraternised 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 269 
 
 with mutual expressions of admiration. And 
 even Piper was so overborne by the general 
 good feeling that he relinquished his inten- 
 tion of spilling Mr Binney's blood, and 
 allowed himself to be drawn off, while our 
 hero crept round by Neville's Court, 
 through the screens and out again through 
 the Great Gate, still somewhat frightened, 
 and by no means so hilarious as he had 
 been five minutes before. 
 
 The next morning Mr Binney woke up 
 feeling rather cheap, but not without a thrill 
 of pride when he recalled the glorious 
 achievements of the last four days. He 
 went to the Baptist Chapel, which he was 
 accustomed to attend twice on a Sunday, 
 and thought that every member of the con- 
 gregation must* have heard of his prowess 
 on the river, and be eyeing him with ad- 
 miration as he handed round the plate at 
 the close of the service, clad in his under- 
 graduate's gown. As he sat at his solitary 
 lunch Howden came in. 
 
 'Hullo, Binney, old chap,' he said, 'here 
 you are at last. I've been in once or twice 
 to try and find you this morning. You did 
 jolly well in the races. I was there on 
 Friday and saw you make your bump.' 
 
270 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 * It's a splendid thing, you know, Howden,' 
 said Mr Binney, 'taking part in a great 
 contest like that. You know what it is, 
 for you're a celebrated athlete yourself. It 
 makes you feel warm all over, doesn't it ? ' 
 
 ' It makes you feel black and blue all 
 over,' said Howden, 'after a game like 
 yesterday. We didn't do so badly, Binney, 
 did we? We never expected to beat them 
 like that. Look here, I've got some of the 
 fellows who were playing yesterday coming 
 to supper with me this evening, and two 
 of the Irish chaps who are staying here 
 over Sunday are coming as well. You 
 come too, Binney. We shall have a jolly, 
 rowdy evening, quite like old times. You're 
 out of training now, and you haven't had 
 a bust since the beginning of the term. 
 Eight o'clock in. my rooms.' 
 
 Mr Binney looked shocked. 
 
 'What, on Sunday evening?' he ex- 
 claimed. ' My dear Howden, I couldn't 
 entertain the idea for a moment.' 
 
 *Oh, well,' said Howden, somewhat 
 abashed, ' we shan't be doing any harm. 
 You must feed somewhere if it is Sunday. 
 
 ' I always dine in hall on Sunday,' 
 said Mr Binney, 'and go to church after- 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 27 1 
 
 wards. I am sorry I can't join you, 
 Howden, although, if it had been on any 
 other night in the week, I should have 
 been delighted. Those dinners we used 
 to have were rather good fun, weren't 
 they? I shouldn't mind another one now 
 if we could keep it a bit quieter. I'll 
 tell you what, Howden, we will have 
 another dinner in my rooms to-morrow 
 night, just to celebrate our going head.' 
 
 ' What, the old lot ! ' exclaimed Howden. 
 'That will be ripping, Binney. I've never 
 had such jolly dinners since I've been up 
 here as yours were. You're such a capital 
 good host, you know.' 
 
 ' Well, I like entertaining my friends/ said 
 Mr Binney, much gratified. ' I used to 
 enjoy those dinners qiyself, but they cer- 
 tainly were getting rather too rowdy. We 
 must keep a bit quieter to-morrow.' 
 
 ' Right you are,' said Howden, and he 
 and Mr Binney drew out a list of half a 
 dozen constellations of the athletic world, 
 who had already had experience of Mr 
 Binney's hospitality in days gone by, and 
 might be supposed to be willing to partake 
 of it again. 
 
 Mr Binney's dinner was a repetition of 
 
272 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 those which had brought him into disre- 
 pute during the previous term, only, instead 
 of being quieter than had been customary 
 with those entertainments, it was a noisier 
 .revel than any of them. Bumpers had to 
 be drunk to the First Triiiity Boat Club, 
 and to the cox of its first Lent boat. 
 This was done before the fish came on. 
 By the time the entree had made its ap- 
 pearance success to the University Rugby 
 Football Club had been duly honoured, 
 and the healths of the various members 
 of it there present brought them to dessert • 
 in a state of hilarious good fellowship. 
 Mr Binney usually objected to bumpers, 
 but it was pointed out to him that his 
 refusal to empty them would be considered 
 a cowardly insult to, his guests in whose 
 honour they were proposed. 
 
 Alas ! before dinner was well over, Mr 
 Binney was in a state the mere imagina- 
 tion of which would have made him blush 
 with shame in his more collected moments. 
 His face was flushed, his speech thick, and 
 his laughter meaningless but incessant. 
 His guests were, most of them, in a similar 
 state, and the unhappy little man, instead 
 of mildly rebuking them for their excesses, 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 273 
 
 as he had been accustomed to do, en- 
 couraged them to further Hbations, and 
 filled their glasses himself with an unsteady 
 hand, and giggling exhortations to make 
 a night of it. ^ At a later stage of the 
 evening Mr Binney was on his legs making 
 the inevitable speech. It was an entirely 
 incoherent speech, but his hearers applauded 
 it no less for that. When a gleam of in- 
 telligence did detach itself from Mr Binney's 
 rambling procession of verbiage and pierce 
 their heated brains, the cheers and hammer- 
 ings on the table rose to fever pitch, 
 and spurred on jthe poor, pitiable little 
 object to still greater exertions. During 
 one of these interludes, when the applause 
 was at its height and Mr Binney stood 
 leaning against the table with glassy eye 
 and fatuous smile waiting for the din to 
 subside, and bracing up his slipping con- 
 sciousness for a further attempt, the door 
 of the room opened, and a tall, black figure, 
 its face wearing an expression of scandalised 
 amazement, stood framed in the doorway. 
 It was the Reverend Dr Toller come to ex- 
 postulate with the wandering sheep of his 
 otherwise irreproachable flock. 
 
 Mr Binney was the first to notice him, 
 
 s 
 
274 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 He frowned slightly in a determined effort 
 to regain his scattered senses. Then the 
 amiable smile spread" once more over his 
 face as he recognised his friend. 
 
 ' Dorrertoller ! ' he cried, in a delighted 
 impulse of hospitable welcome. 'Gome in, 
 my dear sir,, and dring a glass o' wine. 
 You see me, Dorrertoller, s'rounded by 
 m' friends, celebrelating merrificent vickery, 
 boclub. Genelmel, 'low me, ole friend, 
 Dorrertoller. Come in, ole boy. Mayself 
 tome. Siddown.' 
 
 , 'Mr Binney!' said the good doctor in 
 an awful tone. 'Are you aware, sir, of 
 the terrible scandal you are bringing upon 
 yourself and your friends by this unseemly* — 
 this disgraceful conduct ? ' 
 
 '.Thashalti, Dorrertoll,' said the unhappy 
 Mr Binney, 'Siddow. All ole frells here.' 
 
 It: would ill become us to protract the 
 account of this shameful scene. Dr Toller, 
 shocked and horrified beyond all bounds, 
 lifted up his voice in expostulation and re-" 
 proof to the best of his ability, but all in 
 vain. Mr Binney was past taking heed of 
 rebukes, and wandered foolishly albngv press- 
 ing the doctor to make one of the party, and 
 drink the health of some of the best fellows 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 275 
 
 he was ever likely to meet. That at least 
 was the intention; of his invitation, but his 
 enunciation not being so clear as could be 
 wished, the warmth of his welcome could 
 only be gathered from his engaging smile 
 and his ineffectual attempts to drag a chair 
 up to the table, a chair on which one of his 
 guests happened already to be sitting. 
 .Most of the other men took Dr Toller for 
 a Proctor and kept quiet, while Mr Binney 
 used his utmost endeavo,urs to induce him 
 to join them. They returned again to their 
 previous state of merriment when the Doctor 
 had left the room, having perceived that 
 anything that he might have to say to Mr 
 Binney would have to be kept until the next 
 morning. Later on in the evening, a Proctor 
 did pay them a visit, the noise having be- 
 come so insistent that it was bound to 
 attract the attention of any one passing 
 down Jesus Lane. He took' the names of 
 alLthe party, but Mr Binney went to bed in 
 happy oblivion of the event, as well as of the 
 advent of his pastor, and woke up in the 
 morning with a bad headache and a dim 
 impression that something had happened the 
 night before which would cause him' great 
 
276 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 uneasiness if only he could remember what 
 it was. 
 
 As he sat with throbbing head and 
 smarting eyeballs over a late cup of 
 tea, which he dignified by the name of 
 breakfast, a < bull-dog' was announced, 
 who brought him a slip of paper request- 
 ing him to call on the Junior Proctor at a 
 stated time. Mr Binney groaned. He 
 had a dim idea that he had had an un- 
 finished conversatipn with a Proctor at some 
 previous state of his CKistence, but he could 
 not remember when. He supposed it must 
 have been during the previous evening, but 
 he could not remember having gone out after 
 dinner. A little later on, a similar notice 
 was lirought to him from his Tutor. Mr 
 Binney was in such a low state that he 
 actually shed tears at this fresh misfortune. 
 He must have done something very bad 
 indeed. If only he could remember what 
 it was ! But he couldn't, and his head was 
 too painful to allow him to exert it to any 
 great extent. AH , he knew was that he 
 would never be. able to hold up that head 
 again. He would be sent down' for a cer- 
 tainty. He would be eternally disgraced in 
 the eyes of all his friends, before whom he 
 
MR BINNEY GETS INTO TROUBLE 277 
 
 had been used to bear himself so proudly. 
 He grew cold when he thought of what Mrs 
 Higginbotham would say to hiin- Then 
 his thoughts flew with a deadly sinking of 
 heart to Dr Toller and his fellow- officers in 
 the congregation of which Dr Toller was 
 the shining leader. ' At this moment there 
 was a ring at the bell, and in a few moments 
 Dr Toller himself was announced. Mr 
 Binney buried his head in the cushions 
 of his armchair and wept aloud. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 NEMESIS 
 
 Dr Toller left Mr ^inney an hour after- 
 wards, chastened and repentant. The 
 full enormity of his crime had been brought 
 home to him. His only plea was that 
 this was the first time such a dreadful 
 thing had happened. Dr Toller did not, 
 refer in direct terms to the New Court 
 Chronicle, as he remembered in time 
 that his wife had not told him before he 
 left home how its numbers had fallen 
 into her haftds. But he drew from Mr 
 Binney an account of the occurrences of 
 the term, and amongst them of the attack 
 that Piper had made upon him in his 
 paper. ' I went in for revelry to some 
 extent last term,' Mr Binney explained, 
 ' but, even then, nothing of the sort that 
 happened last night took place. This 
 
NEMESIS 879 
 
 term my life has been hitherto irreproach- 
 able, and I did not deserve these attacks.' 
 
 Dr Toller was pleased to hear it. Poor 
 Mr Binney. was so ashamed of himself 
 and loo'ked ^uch a pitiable object bundled 
 up in his armchair with a despairing look 
 on his white face and black rings under 
 his eyes, that he readily promised to keep 
 the account of the previous night's orgie 
 from Mr Binney's friends in Bloomsbury, 
 and before he went gave the repentant 
 sinner full absolution " and a great deal of 
 very good advice. 
 
 When the doctof had removed himself 
 it was time for Mr Binney to call on the 
 Proctor, who was a Fellow of Jesus College. 
 Mr Binney crawled a,long down the sunny 
 side of the lane feeling very miserable. 
 But the interview was not quite so pain- 
 ful as he ,ha^ imagined. The Proctor 
 was a young man with a keen sense of 
 humour. He tried to impart a fitting 
 air of severity into his strictures on the 
 disgraceful scene he had interrupted, but 
 spoilt it all by bursting into a peal of 
 laughter in the middle of his lecture. 
 After that there was nothing further 
 to be done but to extort a heavy fine 
 
280 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 from the culprit and to let him go. Mr 
 Binney felt somewhat relieved as he 
 walked out through the gates of Jesus 
 down the passage into the lane, but his 
 heart sank again like lead as 'he re- 
 membered his coming interview with his 
 Tutor. He had just time enough to .go 
 into his rooms and drink a glass of milk 
 and soda, before it was time to repair 
 to Trinity College to undergo the ordeal 
 of Mr Rimington's displeasure. 
 
 Mr Binney had to wait> some time in 
 the Tutor's ante-room. His thoughts 
 were very, bitter as he , sat turning over 
 the pages of a book, keenly awaf-e of the 
 titters and whispers of the men who 
 were waiting with him. 
 
 The Tutor's face, when Mr Binney at 
 last entered the inner room, was not re- 
 assuring. It wore a severe, and, to Mr 
 Binney's overstrung perceptions, it seemed 
 a contemptuous look. Mr Rimington 
 did not shake hands with his pupil as 
 was .his wont, but motioned him to a 
 chair and plunged immediately in medias 
 res. 
 
 ' You know, of course, why I have sent 
 for you, Mr Binney,' he said. ' I have 
 
NEMESIS 281 
 
 no intention of expostulating with you. 
 I have tried that already, and it proved 
 to be of no avail. I simply have to say 
 that the college can no longer put up 
 with the way you choose to behave 
 yourself, and you must go down to-day.' 
 
 ' What ? go down for good, sir ? ' said 
 poor Mr Binney in a broken voice. 
 
 ' Yes, I think so,' said the Tutor. 
 
 ' Oh, surely you can't be so hard , as 
 that,' pleaded Mr Binney. ' Think of 
 the disgrace, sir.' 
 
 ' I dp think of the disgrace,' said the 
 Tutor, with a short laugh. ' I wislj you 
 had thought of it yourself a little soone,r.' 
 
 It will be remembered that on the 
 last occasion of a conversation between 
 Mr Rimington and Mr Binney, the latter 
 had taken a very high line, for which he 
 had subsequently apologised, but not 
 quite adequately. Mr Rimington had 
 become very tired of Mr Binney's methods 
 of speech and conduct, and had made 
 up his mihd to speak shortly and sharply, 
 and not to allow any discussion of his 
 decision. He was not, however, prepared 
 for , the total breakdown of Mr Binney's 
 opposition to his authority. The poor 
 
282 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 little creature sitting crumpled up before 
 him, in abject and hot-eyed misery, was 
 a very different person to the combative, 
 self-sufficient gejitleman >vho had resisted 
 his warnings in such a high-handed fashion 
 when he had before animadverted on his 
 conduct, so he did not refuse to listen 
 when Mr Binney began to plead with 
 him in a piteous, broken-hearted manner. 
 
 ' I know I have disgraced myself, sir,' 
 he said, 'I feel it deeply. But such a 
 thing will never happen again, and it has 
 never happened before.' 
 
 'Oh, pardon me, Mr Binney,' said the 
 Tutor. ' This affair is only , the climax to 
 a consistent course of such behaviour. 
 I have had reason to speak to you before 
 about it. You can't possibly have for- 
 gotten that.' 
 
 ' Not about drunkenness, sir,' said Mr 
 
 "^ Binney. 'I was drunk last night, you 
 
 know. I confess it. That has never 
 
 happened" before, and will never happen 
 
 again.' 
 
 'There are degrees of culpability, of 
 course, in^ these matters,' said Mr Riming- 
 ton. 'Where you seem to disagree with 
 me is in thinking that these disorderly 
 
NEMESIS 283 
 
 meetings are allowable at all , when a man 
 of your age and influence takes the lead 
 in setting all rules of order and good con- 
 duct aside.' 
 
 ' I don't disagree, with you at all, sir,* 
 said Mr Binney. ' I am very sorry that 
 anything of the sort . has ever happened 
 in my rooms. I promise you, if you will 
 only give me another chance, that it shall 
 never happen again.' 
 
 'You forget, Mr Binney, that I ventured 
 to impress my views upon you at the eftd of 
 last term, and warned you that if anything 
 of the sort happened again I should be 
 compelled to take a serious view of it. 
 Th^ first man I had to deal with at the 
 beginning of this term had got into trouble 
 through-T-er — -his companionship with you. 
 And further than that your name has 
 become* synonymous with disorderly be- 
 haviour throughout the University.' 
 
 What would not Mr Binney have given 
 at that moment to recall the vanished days 
 and spend them to better advantage ? The 
 /:ontemptible light in which he must appear 
 to men of his own standing was borne fn 
 upon him like a flood, and he felt that it would 
 indeed be better if he left Cambridge for 
 
284 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 good and never showed his face there 
 again. 
 
 • I deserve to be sent down in disgraqe,' 
 he said feebly. ' There is only one reason 
 why I beg you to exercise your clemency — 
 for the sake of my boy.' . 
 
 Mr Rimington's mild eyes flashed fire. ' I 
 can scarcely trust myself to speak to you on 
 that subject,' he said. 'If I do so it is 
 because I feel it my duty as a clergyman to 
 try and bring home to you the enormity 
 of your conduct towards your son. Are 
 you incapable of — ' 
 
 'Oh, don't, don't,' interrupted Mr Binney 
 in a broken-hearted voice. ' I see it all. 
 Nothing you could say would be so seVere 
 as what I say to myself. I can't bear it. 
 I can't really. But just think what an awful 
 thing it would be for him to have it said 
 that his father was sent down for drunken- 
 nesis. He would bear the brand of it all his 
 
 life.' ; 
 
 ' It seems to me,' said the Tutor dryly, 
 'that you have already given him something 
 that he will have reason to be ashamed of 
 all his life. I have a great admiration for 
 your son. I tell you candidly, ■ Mr Binney, 
 that I don't know one other undergraduate 
 
NEMESIS 285 
 
 who could have held up his head in Cam- 
 bridge after what he has gone through.' 
 
 *0h, don't say any more, I beg of you,' 
 cried Mr Binney, cut to the heart. 'And 
 don't make things worse for him by sending 
 me down.' 
 
 ' If I thought for a moment that your 
 staying up here would make things easier 
 for him,' said Mr Rimington, ' I own I 
 should hesitate, although I don't say that 
 my decision would be altered. But jt seems 
 to me that the very kindest course to pursue 
 on his account would be to prevent his 
 having any further cause to be shamed by 
 your conduct up here. No, Mr Binney. 
 You must go down this afternoon. I have 
 spoken to one or two of my colleagues 
 about it, and our decision is irrevocable. I 
 see no use in protracting this painful inter- 
 view.' 
 
 Mr Binney pleaded and besought, but all 
 to no avail, and left his Tutor's presence 
 at last, a disgraced and despairing man. 
 
 The feelings of Lucius towards his father, 
 as the respect with which he had • been 
 accustomed to regard him gradually gave 
 place to something like contempt, are too 
 painful a subject to dilate upon, Never 
 
286 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 surely since the wide doors of Cambridge 
 University were opened to all comers, had 
 any of its members been placed in a more 
 disagreeable position. Looking back on 
 this trying time in after years, Lucius won- - 
 dered how he could ever have endured life at 
 Cambridge for a single day. But youth is 
 elastic. Lucius's own record was clean and 
 he had nothing on his conscience. He was 
 extremely popular among his intimates for 
 his amiable and manly qualities, and ridicul- 
 ous as his father's behaviour was, Lucius 
 was so unlike him, that it seemed impossible 
 to connect the two, when once the novelty 
 of Mr Binney's attributes had worn away. 
 Unhappy he often was, it is true, but his 
 good temper and equable spirits soon 
 brought him round again, and it must be 
 remembered that he was moving in the 
 glorified atmosphere of a young man's first 
 passion, when it is more easy than at other 
 times to shake off the disagreeables of life 
 and steep oneself in the contemplation of the 
 beloved. Lucius had attained to that staJte 
 of sympathetic intimacy with his cousin in 
 which he could pour out some of his troubles 
 to her when they met, and be gently but 
 effectually consoled for them. Betty had 
 
NEMESIS 287 
 
 never met Mr Binney, but she knew him by 
 sight, and nourished a fierce and bitter enmity 
 towards him. 
 
 Lucius met his cousin, on the morning 
 after his father's fall, outside the lecture room 
 of St John's College, where she was engaged 
 for an hour three mornings in the week. The 
 other girls who were with her gave Lucius 
 a glance and then hurried off through the 
 gate, leaving them alone. 
 
 ' Good-bye, Lucius,' she said hastily, ' I 
 must go. I don't know what those girls are 
 running away for like that.' 
 
 'Do let me walk back with you, Betty,' 
 said Lucius. 'I'm so beastly miserable, I 
 don't know what to do.' 
 
 'Very well, then. Just for once,' said 
 Betty, after a look at his face. 'We'll go 
 along the Backs.' 
 
 * I suppose you haven't heard about my 
 father last night, have you?' asked 
 Lucius, as they made their way across the 
 bridge. 
 
 ' No. What about him ? ' asked Betty. 
 
 ' I really sometimes think he's going off 
 his head,' said Lucius despondently. ' He 
 was so pleased at his boat going head of 
 the river that he gave a great feed. There 
 
288 PETBR BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 was a terrific row. In the middle of it the 
 old fool I have to go and hear preach at 
 home turned up. , Goodness knows what 
 brought him. He came to see me this 
 morning just after breakfast, and seems to 
 think I must have been in it too, although 
 he knew I wasn't there. He began a long 
 solemn jaw, but I was so sick I shut him 
 up. He's an awful old outsider, and he's 
 got nothing to do with me, even if I had 
 done something he didn!t approve of, 
 which I haven't.' 
 
 , ' But it doesn't matter what he thinks, 
 does it?' asked Betty with all the scorn of 
 the rector's daughter against a member of 
 a usurping caste. 
 
 ' I don't know,' / said Lucius dubiously^ 
 • His wife is a spiteful old woman. Of 
 course it will get to her ears and then it 
 will be all over the place. There's one 
 good thing, I have been away from home 
 such a lot, and have so many friends outside, 
 that it won't matter so much to me as it 
 might have done. But it will be awful for 
 the poor old governor. I don't think he 
 knows what he's laying ,up for himself.' 
 
 'Oh, I shouldn't bother my head about 
 him if I were you,' said Betty airily. ' It's 
 
NEMESIS 289 
 
 his own fault, and he's got ■ himself to tha;nk 
 for it. It's you I'ni thinking of.' ■ Then she 
 blushed a little. 
 
 Lucius blushed too. ' You are so awfully 
 kind,' 'he began, 'and — ' 
 
 •Yes. Thank you,' interrupted Betty, 
 hastily. 
 
 ' But I really shouldn't know what to do 
 if it wasn't for you,' persisted Lucius. ' ',It's 
 like-^' 
 
 'Yes, I know,' interrupted Betty again.. 
 'But you haven't told me all about last 
 night yet, have you ? ' ' 
 
 ' No,' said Lucius, his face falling again. 
 •The row reached such a pitch that the 
 Proctors came in. My gyp told me that 
 the governor was going to be hauled this 
 morning, and I shouldn't wonder if he were 
 sent down.' 
 
 . ' Well, that will be all the better for you, 
 won't it ? ' inquired Betty, unmoved at the 
 awful announcement. 
 
 • I don't know. I haven't thought of that 
 yet,' Lucius admitted. ' But I'm afraid it 
 will kill the poor old governor. I shall go 
 and see him when I get back. I'm awfully 
 sorry for him, although he has been so 
 
290 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 tiresome. But don't let's talk any more 
 abput it. We're nearly there. I say, 
 Betty—' 
 
 'I think you'd, better go back now,' said 
 Betty, 'You've come quite far enough,' 
 and Lucius was not bold enough to disobey 
 her. 
 
 He found Mr Binney just returried 
 from his visit to his Tutor. 'It's all over, 
 Lucius. *rm sent down,' he said hope- 
 lessly. 
 
 Lucius was at a loss for words. The 
 humour of the situation suddenly struck 
 him, and he had hard work to prevent him- 
 self smiling. 
 
 ' I've been a bad father to you, my boy,' 
 went on Mr Binney. ' I see it all now. I 
 wish I had behaved differently. But it is 
 too late. All is over, The blow has fallen. 
 I am a disgraced man.' 
 
 ' Oh, come, cheer up, father,' said Lucius. 
 •I should think they Avpuld give you an- 
 other show if you promise to keep quiet 
 in future.' 
 
 ' No they won't,' said Mr Binney, 'They 
 think I am spoiling your chances ,a|t Cam- 
 bridge. Afhd they are quite right, quite 
 right.' 
 
NEMESIS 291 
 
 'What nonsense,' said Lucius. 'Is it 
 only on my account they have sent you 
 down ? ' • 
 
 'That, chiefly,' said Mr Binney, with the 
 calm voice of despair, 'But they have lost 
 faith in me. And quite right too. Oh, 
 quite right.' 
 
 ' Well, I'll tell y;ou what, ' father,' said 
 Lucius, ' I'll go and see Rimington and 
 ask him to give you another chance. We're 
 rather pals, and he might listen, although it's 
 rather cheek my tackling him.' 
 
 ' Oh, Lucius, if you only would,' exclaimed 
 Mr Binney, grasping his son eagerly by the 
 arm. ' I believe he would listen to you. I 
 do really, and it's my only chance. I 
 thought this morning that I shouldn't care 
 to stay at Cambridge a,ny longer after 
 wha;t has happened. But I can't bear the 
 thought of going down like this. It is too 
 awful.' 
 
 'Of course not,' said Lucius. 'I'll go at 
 once.' 
 
 Mr Rimington was still receiving when 
 Lucius presented himself in his anteroom. 
 After a time he found himself cordially 
 greeted by his father's Tutor, and sat down 
 
292 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 without an idea as to how he should begin 
 what he had to say. 
 
 'I've come about my father,' he said, 
 reddening and playing with the tassel of 
 his cap. ' I hope you'll give him another 
 chance, sir. It wasn't altogether his fault 
 that all the noise was made last night, and 
 he'll be very careful that it doesn't happen 
 again. It will be rather unpleasant for me 
 if he is sent down,' he added. 
 
 ' Has your father asked, you to come to 
 me } ' asked Mr Rimington. 
 
 ' No,' said Lucius, ' I came of my own 
 accord.' 
 
 'Wouldn't you be happier up here if 
 your father were — were at home, Binney ? ' 
 
 ' I shouldn't be any happier if people 
 could say he had been sent down. /In fact, 
 I don't think I could stand it. He'll keep 
 pretty well in the background aftier this, I 
 should think, and I don't much mind his 
 being up here if he does that.' 
 
 ' I can't hold out any hopes of our de- 
 cision being altered,' said Mr Rjmirfgton 
 after a pause, ' It is not I alone who am 
 responsible for it. But I think that your 
 wishes in the matter should certainly be 
 
NEMESIS 293 
 
 considered, I can't say more than that at 
 present, and, as I say, your father had 
 better not entertain any hopes of our de- 
 cision being reversed. If there is anything 
 more to say, I will write to him in 
 London.' 
 
 With this slender thread of hope Mr 
 Binney travelled home to Russell Square 
 that afternoon in sad aftd lonely dejection. 
 His head still ached after his excesses of 
 the previous night, and his mood was so 
 dark that he put off the confession which 
 he knew he should have to make to Mrs 
 Higginbotham, until the next morning. 
 As he dined in solitary state that evening, 
 attended by his neat and soft-footed maids, 
 he found himself wondering how the habits 
 and customs of twenty years could have 
 broken down so completely under the in- 
 fluence of new surroundings. Two years 
 ago he would have been the first to hold 
 up pious hands of horror at the mere 
 mention of an orgie such as he had taken 
 part in the night before. And, having re- 
 turned once more to his accustomed, manner 
 of life, he felt just as far apart from it as 
 he would have done then. But he could 
 not keep his thoughts away for long from 
 
294 , PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 the dark fact that he had just been expelled 
 from the University for continuous bad 
 conduct, and it will be agreed that this 
 cannot have been a pleasant recollection for a 
 middle-aged gentleman with a grown-up son. 
 Dr Toller had promised Mr Binney that 
 he would keep to himself all mention of the 
 scene he had surprised. His doing so was 
 bnly another example of the eternal self- 
 cbmplaisance of human nature. Dr Toller 
 was ~ about as capable of , keepingi anything 
 to himself that his wife wanted to hear 
 about, as a puppy is of holding a stick that 
 its master wants to take away. At twelve 
 o'clock Dr Toller returned from' Cambridge 
 to the wife of his bosom. * By ,a quarter 
 past, Mrs Toller was in possession of the 
 main outlines of his story, which had been 
 filled in, before the half hour struck by all 
 the details that Dr -Toller's memory could 
 supply. 
 
 ' You won't tell anyone else what has 
 happened, my dear, will ^ you?' said Dr 
 Toller, when his ,wife. had extracted all 
 the information from him he was capable* 
 of affording. 
 
 ■ 'I shall tell what I please to whomso- 
 ever I please,' said Mrs Toller. 
 
NEMESIS 295 
 
 ' But, my dta.r, my promise,' expostulated 
 the doctor. 
 
 ' Bother your promise ! ' said Mrs Toller' 
 as she went out of the room. 
 
 After breakfast the next morning" Mr 
 Binney, to whom another day had brought 
 no cessation of the gnawing pains of 
 remorse, took his courage in both hands, 
 and putting on his hat and coat, went 
 round to Wobiirn Square. 
 
 The maid who opened, the door to him 
 gave a little start. ' Mrs Higginbotham 
 is not at home, sir,' she said. ' But she 
 told me to give you this little parcel if you 
 happened to call.' , 
 
 Mr Binney took the parcel, neatly tied 
 up and directed in Mrs Higginbotham's 
 well-known writing. ' Do you know when 
 Mrs' Higginbotham will be in?' he asked. 
 
 The tnaid hesitated. ' She told me to' 
 say she was not at home, sir,' she repeated 
 awkwardly, and Mr Binney went down the 
 steps with the terrible realisation hammer- 
 ing at his brain, that Mrs Higginbotham 
 had heard of his disgrace and refused to 
 receive him. 
 
 He waited until he had returned to the 
 
,296 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 seclusion of his own library before he 
 opened the ^^acket which she had directed 
 to him. 
 
 It contained all the letters he had ever 
 written to her. 
 
Chapter xv 
 
 LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 
 
 It was ten o'clock of a late April morning, 
 one of those hot sunny days which some- 
 times make \t not unfitting that the term 
 which in Cambridge begins in April and 
 ends in the middle of June should be 
 known as the Summer Term. The morn- 
 ing in Cambridge, as has been explained, is 
 usually devoted to books, but here was Mr 
 Lucius Binney of Trinity College in a 
 very light grey flannel suit and a straw 
 hat apparently making preparations for 
 some sort of an expedition. He had 
 collected from different corners of the room 
 a Japanese umbrella, two plethoric silken 
 cushions and a large box of chocolate 
 creams. He put them down on the table 
 and looked for a moment longingly at his 
 collection of pipes, but finally contented 
 
298 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 himself with filling a cigarette case, 
 which he slipped into his pocket. At this 
 juncture a step was heard approaching. 
 Lucius had just time to cover the box of 
 chocolate creams with a cushion before 
 the door was opened and Mr Benjamin 
 Stubbs entered the room. He was in cap 
 and gown arid carried a notebook. 
 
 'Holloa!' he exclaimed, 'going on the 
 -Backs ? Not a bad idea this fine morning. 
 IVe. a good mind to cut lecture and come 
 with you.' 
 
 * Oh I shouldn't do that,, Dizzy, if I were 
 you,' said Lucius, 'you'd better, go and 
 hear what Mansell has got to say. I can 
 crib your notes afterwards.' 
 
 'We can both crib 'em off Hare,' said 
 Dizzy. 'L should like a paddle in a canoe. 
 Lend us a hat and I'll leave these things 
 here.' ' 
 
 'I haven't got another hat except that 
 one with the Third Trinity colours and you 
 can't wear that.' 
 
 'Well, you Juggins, you cah wear that 
 and lend me the one you've got on.' 
 
 'The other doesn't fit me very well,' ob- 
 jected Lucius. 
 
 ' What rot ! why, you wear it every day. 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 299 
 
 I'll tell you what it is, young man, you've 
 got some game on and you don't want 
 me to come. What is it ? ' 
 
 Dizzy here took up one pf the cushions 
 on the table and disclosed the box of 
 chocolate? which it hid. Enlightenment 
 ■ diffused itself over his intelligent features. 
 
 ' Oh, I see, yes,' he said, ' Good morn- 
 ing, Binney, I'm afraid I shall be late for 
 lecture.' And he betook himself out of the 
 room. 
 
 ' Silly ass ! ' soliloquised Lucius. Then 
 he gathered up his properties and made 
 his way out across the Great Court, which 
 lay wide and still beneath a smiling April 
 sky, through the Hostel and down the 
 narrow lane which leads to the river and 
 the raft, where in summer-time a flotilla of 
 boats and canges is moored under the trees. 
 Lucius selected a Canadian canoe aad de- 
 posited a cushion at either end, supplement- 
 ing those supplied by the boatmen. The 
 chocolate creams he stowed carefully behind 
 his own cushion, and taking his seat, pushed 
 out into the open water through the maze 
 of pleasure boats which stretchqd half-way 
 across the river. He was almost alone on 
 the water. The rooks cawed in the high 
 
300 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 elms which fringe the pleasant gardens by 
 the river, the whirr of a mowing machine 
 came from some unseen lawn close by; 
 there was an idle summer feeling in the 
 air, Lucius paddled in a leisurely mlanner 
 up the river, past the terraced gardens of 
 Trinity Hall^ the prow of his canoe break- 
 ing up the reflection of the beautiful Clare 
 Bridge as he passed under it, along the 
 spacious level lawn of King's and under 
 the King's bridge into the darker waters 
 bounded by the old buildings of Queens'. 
 The illicit tinkling of a piano came from 
 an open window in the new King's 
 buildings and two men leant idly on the 
 parapet of the bridge and watched him 
 as he paddled slowly underneath. When 
 he reached the wooden bridge of Queens'^ 
 the bridge which Sir Isaac I^ewton is said 
 to hg,ve erected without a bolt or nut, 
 he turned round and dropped' down the 
 river again. As he neared the King's 
 Bridge he pulled out his watch. 
 
 * She said half past ten,' he murmured 
 to himself. . ' I suppose she . is bound to be 
 a bit late. , Girls always are.' 
 
 He lay back on his cushions and allowed 
 the canoe to drift. Opposite to him was the 
 
LtrCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 301 
 
 entrance to a backwater, arched over with 
 trees, and crossed by a wooden bridge. 
 Lucius surveyed it . idly. ' I wonder if she 
 will come down there with me,' he said to 
 himself. ' It is pretty, and quiet. I should 
 like to ask her there. But I'm going to 
 ask her somewhere this morning if I have 
 to do it in the middle of the river with a 
 hundred boats within hearing. I couldn't 
 be more in love with her than I am now, 
 the darling, and what's the use of waiting ? 
 How sweet of her to ask me to take her 
 out this morning! I wonder why she did 
 ask me. I wonder if she knows. I suppose 
 so. I haven't tried to hide it, at any 
 rate.' 
 
 At this moment a fair vision of youth 
 and beauty in diaphanous summer draperies 
 came into sight on the river bank just above 
 him. Lucius sprang out on to the bank 
 and knelt down on the gfass to hold the 
 canoe for the fair vision to step into it. It 
 was his cousin Betty. She looked cool 
 and fresh and not at all as if she was 
 doing a very bold thing as she stepped 
 into the wobbly craft and settled herself 
 on the cushions opposite him. . 
 
 'This is ripping, Bett^,' said Lucius. 
 
302 PETEJl BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' It IS most charming of you to come out 
 with me like this,' 
 
 ' You don't think I ca,me for the pleasure 
 of your company, do you ? ' inquired Betty. 
 
 'Oh, no, not in the least.' 
 
 ' How conceited you are. You know 
 yod do think it.' 
 
 :_ ' I assure you, Betty, it never ,entered my 
 head. When a girl writes to her cousin 
 and asks him to take her put on the river, 
 he would be a conceited ass, as you say, 
 to imagine for a nioment that she wanted 
 to go with him.' 
 
 ' I didn't say I didn't want to go with 
 you. If I must go. at all I would just as 
 soon go with you as any one." 
 
 ' I don't know that there's any necessity 
 for you to go at all if you don't want to.' 
 
 'Ah, but you don't know everything.' 
 
 'Why did 'you come, then?' 
 
 • I'll tell you when we get back again. 
 Now paddle up to the Bridge of Sighs.' 
 
 'How mysterious you are. But there's 
 no hurry. Let us go down this little back- 
 water. You can't think how jolly it is. 
 There are shady trees on one side and a 
 field with daisies and cows and buttercups 
 and things on the other.' 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 303 
 
 ' No thank you, I don't want to go down 
 a backwater. I want to paddle down to 
 St John's and back.' 
 
 'What for?' • 
 
 ' I shan't tell you yet.' 
 
 ' Then I shan't paddle.' 
 
 ' How tiresome you> are, Lucius. You 
 spoil all my pleasure in your society.' 
 
 'You said you didn't take any pleasure 
 in my society just now.' 
 
 ' No more I do. "Now paddle along, 
 there's a good boy.' 
 
 ' Who is that female on the bank taking 
 such an interest in us ? ' 
 
 'She isn't a female at all. Don't be rude. 
 She's one of my particular friends. Now 
 go on please.' 
 
 'What is she doing there? Why doesn't 
 she go home ? ' ' 
 
 'She will, when we have been up to the 
 Bridge of Sighs and back, and I shall gp 
 with her. Now do paddle on and be quick. 
 I shall get into a row, you know, if anyone 
 else sees me here.' 
 
 ' I shan't go on until you tell me what 
 all this is about. Don't get into a temper. 
 If you kick the bottom of the boat like that 
 
304. PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 your foot will go through and we shall both 
 be in the water.' 
 
 ' You really are too provoking, Lucius. 
 I'll never speak to you again if you don't 
 go on directly.' 
 
 Lucius began, to paddle on slowly. ' Now, 
 tell me,' he said, 'why you wanted to 
 come.' 
 
 ' Well, if you must know, that girl betted 
 me a box of chocolates that I wouldn't; and 
 I do love them so and I've spent all last 
 quarter's allowance and can't afford to buy 
 any. Now do go on, Lucius, there's a good 
 boy. We have only got to get up to the 
 Bridge of Sighs and back, and I shall get 
 them.' 
 
 Lucius stopped again. ' I don't know 
 that I want you to get them particularly,* 
 he said, ' after what you have said about 
 not wanting to come with me. Didn't you 
 want to come with me a bit ? ' 
 
 ' No, of course not.' , 
 
 ' Not a little bit ? ' 
 
 ' No.' 
 
 ' Then I shan't go on.' 
 
 • Oh — oh — oh ! I feel as if I should like 
 to thro^ something at you.' 
 
 'Well, why don't you? Look, there's 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 305 
 
 the girl on the bank grinning at you. How 
 pleased she'll be if I let her win.' 
 
 ' Horrid thing, she is. But I hate you 
 worse still, I feel as if I could do anything 
 to you now.' 
 
 'What, hurt poor little Cousin Lucy? 
 Oh, Betty, for shame ! ' 
 
 ' Well, if you won't go on, turn back then, 
 and I'll get out. Only I'll never speak to 
 you again as long as I live.' 
 
 ' I say, Betty, are you very fond of 
 chocolate ? ' 
 
 'Yes, I am, but I wouldn't sit here for 
 another five minutes for all the chocolates 
 in the world. Turn round and go back, 
 please.' 
 
 Lucius put his hand behind his back, 
 and drew out the big box already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 ' Look here ; let's stop and eat these 
 here, while that girl looks on. Then we'll 
 go up to St John's and back and you can 
 hcive hers too.' 
 
 This plan commeilded itself to Betty, 
 and she spent a happy ten minutes while 
 the girl on the bank strolled "about and 
 pretended to be admiring the Chapel of 
 King's and the beautiful College of Glare, 
 
 u 
 
306 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 which are both seen to advantage at the 
 point where the canoe had stopped. 
 
 There is a time when even Buszard's 
 most expensive confections cease to charm. 
 When this time had arrived for Betty, she 
 said, ' I don't much care if I don't get the 
 others now, but I know I shall want them 
 to-morrow, so paddle on, Lucius. I'm much 
 more pleased with you now.' 
 
 ' Thank you, Betty,' said Lucius, and the 
 canoe proceeded on its way, under the 
 Clare, Hostel, and Trinity Bridges with 
 the graceful "willows sweeping the water, 
 round the curve where the classical front 
 of the Trinity library looks severely towards 
 the paddocks and the elms, and under the 
 wall of the Master of Trinity's garden, where 
 a blossoming tree showed a mass of 
 delicate pink against the red- tiled gables of 
 Neville's Court, under yet another bridge 
 flanked by the stone eagles of St John's, and 
 between the walls of that college until they 
 reached their goal, the covered bridge, 
 which, through no merit of its own, has 
 usurped the name of the Bridge of Sighs. 
 
 * Thank you,' said Betty. ' Now be quick 
 and get back. What a sell for that girl! 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER S07 
 
 and we haven't met anybody td matter 
 either.' 
 
 ' Plenty of time for that. We've got to 
 get all the way back again. I didn't tell 
 you before, because I thought you would be 
 frightened, but you remember Dizzy whom 
 you met in my rooms last term when your 
 mother was up?' 
 
 ' Yes, I hope he isn't coming out; is he ? ' 
 
 * Well, I'm afraid he is. It's an old stand- 
 ing engagement ; he promised to row a party 
 of Newnham dons — seven of them — on the 
 Backs this morning.' 
 
 For one moment Betty's face blanched 
 with terror. Then she said, ' You are a 
 donkey, Lucius. Hurry up, please.' 
 
 But Lucius wasn't going to hurry up. 
 He was very well content with his present 
 position. Betty reclined opposite to him 
 in a graceful attitude, the brilliant colour 
 of the Japanese umbrella a setting to her 
 pretty face. 
 
 ' Why did you put on that pretty frock ? ' 
 asked Lucius. 
 
 ' Because it is so hot ; just like summer.' 
 
 ' I know why you put it on.' 
 
 'Of course you do when I've just told 
 you.' 
 
308 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ' You put it on because you wanted me to 
 think how pretty you looked in it.' 
 
 ' I didn't do anything of the sort. Don't 
 be so silly.' 
 
 'You do look awfully pretty in it, you 
 know.' 
 
 ' Now, Lucius, if you begin saying those 
 sort of things I shall get out.' 
 
 'All right. The river is shallow here. 
 It won't come much above your shoulders.' 
 
 ' Be quiet, and go on.' 
 
 ' I am going on. I say, Betty ! ' 
 
 'Well?' 
 
 ' Do you remember those lectures last 
 October term?' 
 
 'Yes, pretty well; I've got the notes of 
 them at home if you want them.' 
 
 ' Bother the notes, Do you remember 
 how regular I was ? ' 
 
 ' How should I ? I didn't know you 
 then.' 
 
 * Oh, you wicked story. You knew who 
 I was perfectly well, you little witch, and 
 you let me go on like that for two whole 
 terms without making a sign. It was cruel 
 of you.' 
 
 'Well, did you expect me to stop you 
 in the street and say I was your cousin. 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 809 
 
 when you had never taken the trouble to 
 call on me ? ' 
 
 ' You know I thought you were at Girton. 
 Father said you were, and there is some- 
 one called German there.' 
 
 ' Yes, and you went to Girton such a lot, 
 didn't ' you ? ' 
 
 'I could swear now when I think what 
 an idiot I was.' 
 
 'Then don't do it, please, although I 
 quite agree with you. And, of course, you 
 were much too grand to come and see us 
 at Christmas.' 
 
 ' Confound it ! I say, Betty, was it you 
 who got me asked there ? ' 
 
 ' I certainly shouldn't think of doing so 
 again. And it was mother who asked you 
 last vacation. I had nothing to do with 
 it.' 
 
 'Then it was you. Betty, you are a 
 dar— ' 
 
 ' Now then, be quiet, please.' 
 
 'You and John are coming to us in town 
 for a week, directly after term.' 
 
 ' Poor old John. I wonder whatever he 
 would say if he saw me now .'' ' 
 
 They had now passed Clare again, and 
 were gliding slowly along between the 
 
31Q PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 pleasant meadow and the great lawn towards 
 King's bridge. 
 
 ' I say, Betty,' said Lucius, ' I don't 
 want to frighten you, but who is that on 
 the bridge?' 
 
 •I should think the Vice-Chancellor and 
 Principal of Newnham waiting for us,' 
 answered Betty without turning round. 
 
 • No, but really, I do believe it is 
 John.' 
 
 Betty turned round and saw a man in 
 a straw hat with a green and black ribbon 
 leaning over the bridge. 
 
 'Yes, it is,' she said, blushing scarlet, 
 but speaking quite unconcernedly, 'he 
 ought to be working. I shall blow him 
 up for it.' 
 
 ' Shall we turn round ? He hasn't spotted 
 us yet.' 
 
 'Turn round? Whatever for? You 
 don't suppose I'm frightened of John, do 
 you ? ' 
 
 'I don't know. You look rather as if 
 you were.' 
 
 •Of course I'm not. But I don't know 
 what he will think, and I should look so 
 idiotic if I began to explain.' 
 
 'What about that backwater?' 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 311 
 
 ' Is it very pretty ? ' 
 
 'Oh, ravishing. Hold your umbrella to- 
 wards the bridge as we go round the corner 
 and he won't see you. I'll pull my hat over 
 my face.' 
 
 So the canoe glided under the little 
 wooden bridge and into the still, shaded 
 water beyond. 
 
 The other girl, who was still walking 
 about along the river bank and had seen it 
 disappear, waited for an hour, and then went 
 away furious, half intending to report Miss 
 Betty Jermyn to the authorities of her 
 college. Directly she had gone, the canoe 
 came sliding out into the river again. 
 
 Betty was speaking. 
 
 ' I shouldn't much mind if John did see 
 us now, should you, Lucius.' 
 
 ' Not a bit, darling,' answered the happy 
 Lucius. 'But it wasn't John at all. I 
 looked when you were holding the umbrella 
 in front of your face.' 
 
 Our narrative has dwelt so long on a 
 series of painful and discreditable events, 
 that it is hoped that the account of how 
 Lucius and Betty, boy and girl as they 
 were, made up their minds to spend their 
 lives together, may have dissipated the 
 
312 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 gloom which the sympathetic reader will 
 have experienced in following the chequered 
 career of Mr Binney. We must now go 
 back a little and fill up the gap which we 
 have left between the end of February and 
 the end of April. 
 
 And first let us say that the very time 
 Lucius and Betty were cooing like a pair 
 of young doves in the seclusion of that 
 backwater of the Cam, which now holds 
 for them more tender memories than any 
 other spot in the world, Mr Binney was 
 still in evidence as an undergraduate 
 member of the University of Cambridge, 
 Lucius's plea had been successful. A week 
 after Mr Binney's, return to Russell Square 
 he had received a letter from Mr Rimington, 
 to inform him that he might come up 
 again at the beginning of the following 
 term, but that the slightest breach of dis- 
 cipline on his part in the future would 
 mean a sentence of instant dismissal from 
 which there would be no appeal. 
 
 But alas ! this letter, welcome as its 
 contents were, did not suffice to raise Mr 
 Binney from the despondency into which 
 he had fallen. After the receipt of Mrs 
 Higginbotham's mute but eloquent dis- 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 313 
 
 missal he had passed a week of such 
 black despair that he could never look 
 back upon it in after life without shudder- 
 ing. He had beaten his wings against 
 the doors of Mrs Higginbotham's dwelling, 
 but in vain. There was no admittance 
 for him. He had importuned her by 
 post. His letters remained unanswered. 
 He scarcely knew how to bear the hard 
 fate that he had brought upon himself 
 He was all alone in the house, for Lucius 
 had gone straight from Cambridge to 
 Norfolk, and was now engaged in the 
 Reverend Mr Jermyn's pleasant rectory 
 house and garden in laying the train which 
 eventually culminated in the scene between 
 him and Betty recounted at the beginning 
 of this chapter. He would have gone 
 down to his place of business, but he 
 was ashamed to face his manager and 
 his clerks. He thought that every one 
 would know he had been sent down from 
 Cambridge. As a matter of fact, this 
 particular event of his University career 
 never did become known to any but a 
 very few. Even Mrs Toller did not know 
 it, although Mr Binney was convinced 
 
314 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 that she must have done, for she cut 
 him pointedly in Gower Street one after- 
 noon as he crept miserably along taking 
 a little air and exercise, and audibly in- 
 structed her daughter to do the same, as 
 Mr Binney raised his hat. After that he 
 was not surprised to receive a letter from 
 his fellow deacons of Dr Toller's Chapel 
 requesting him to resign his office, which 
 he did that day with an added pang of 
 shame, and resolved that, as he had now 
 made the Baptist community too hot to 
 hold him, he would become a Wesleyan 
 Methodist and work his way up to a 
 position of authority in that body. He 
 also made up his mind to let the house 
 in Russell Square> which was far too 
 large for himself and Lucius, and take a 
 flat in Earl's Court, since Mrs Higgin- 
 botham seemed to be made of adamant, 
 and there seemed vpry little chance now 
 of her ever gracing his establishment. 
 With all these wrenches in his life, actual 
 and imminent, it may be imagined that 
 Mr Binney was not a happy man at this 
 time. 
 
 When Mr Rimington's letter came, he 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 815 
 
 decided to make one more appeal to Mrs 
 Higginbotham. He told her that he was 
 going back to Cambridge, and intended 
 to lead a very different life in the future 
 to that of the past. Might .he nourish 
 a hope that if he did something to make 
 up for past disgrace, Mrs Higginbotham 
 would forgive him and smile on him 
 once more ? 
 
 To his intense relief and tearful joy Mrs 
 Higginbotham replied to his letter. It 
 appeared that he was not to be debarred 
 from all hope. But he was not to be 
 allowed to see Mrs Higginbotham again 
 until he had done something definite at 
 Cambridge to atone for his past miscon- 
 duct. 
 
 ' I do not mean success in your play- 
 hours, Peter,' wrote Mrs Higginbotham, 
 • that you have alrfeady attained, and it 
 has been the means of leading you astray. 
 Such success as that will never restore my 
 lost confidence in you. You hiust come 
 to be well spoken of by masters and pupils 
 alike. You must rise to the top of your 
 classes, and acquit yourself well in ypur 
 examinations. When you have done that 
 
316 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 you may come and see me again. Until 
 then the memory of the dreadful trouble 
 you have brought upon yourself and upon 
 me, who trusted you, must abide with me. 
 I do not wish to load you with reproaches. 
 Your own conscience must be a very heavy 
 burden for you to bear. But I could not 
 bear to see you with the account that one 
 who shall be nameless gave me of your 
 conduct and appearances still fresh in my 
 memory.' 
 
 Mr Binney stifled his renewed feelings 
 of remorse and wrote to ask if the passing 
 of his Little-go in the following June might 
 be considered a passport to Mrs Higgin- 
 botham's society ? Mrs Higginbotham 
 replied. Yes. If he passed that examination 
 well and behaved immaculately in the mean- 
 time he might consider himself on the old 
 footing with her. So Mr Binney took 
 heart, re-engaged the useful MinshuU and 
 retired to Cornwall for the Easter vacation, 
 where he ploughed away at his studies so 
 energetically that Minshull held out hopes 
 of his attaining a second class in one part 
 at' least of the examination. 
 
 When Lucius paddled his canoe out of 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 317 
 
 the backwater with Betty sitting opposite 
 to him in a flutter of dimples and happiness, 
 there was literally no cloud on his horizon. 
 He had been up at Cambridge now for 
 three weeks and his father had never once 
 given him occasion to wish himself away, 
 Mr Binney behaved himself irreproachably. 
 In fact, if he had kept himself in the back- 
 ground as he was doing now from the time 
 he had entered the University, Lucius would 
 have had no reason to be ashamed of him 
 as a companion. Even as it was, the con- 
 trast of what Mr Binney was now and what 
 he had been when he first came up was so 
 great that the relief felt by Lucius almost 
 made up for the distress he had previously 
 undergone. Mr Binney as a subject for 
 discussion had somewhat lost interest by 
 this time, and Lucius lived much in the 
 same way as he would have done if his 
 father had never come to Cambridge at all. 
 Mr Binney, whose nature was elastic, had 
 recovered a little of his self-importance now 
 that he had nothing to fear from outraged 
 officialdom, and was rather inclined to 
 patronise his son, and generally to assume 
 the high parental air with which he had 
 
318 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 treated him before his own arrival in Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 But Lucius, whose appeal had saved his 
 father from expulsion, took it all in excellent 
 part, and was only too thankful that things 
 were not worse. He could have borne a 
 great deal more and thought nothing of it 
 now that Betty had at last allowed him to 
 put to her the all-important question, and 
 had given him the answer he wanted. He 
 whistled gaily as he walked up to his rooms 
 ffom the river and thought himself the 
 luckiest fellow in the world. 
 
 At the entrance to Whewell's Court he 
 met Dizzy. 
 
 ' I've done it, old man,' he said with a 
 beaming face. ' ' You're the first person 
 I've told about it.' 
 
 'Then I'm sure I'm extremely flattered^' 
 answered Dizzy, 'although I haven't the 
 slightest notion what you're talking about.' 
 
 'I'm going to be married, Dizzy,' said 
 Lucius. ' Will you be my best man ? ' 
 
 'Well, I'm going to play racquets at 
 two,' said Dizzy. ' If you could put it off 
 till to-morrow perhaps I could — ' 
 
 ' No, but really, Ben, I asked Betty this 
 morning, and it's all right.' 
 
LUCIUS FINDS A BACKWATER 319 
 
 ' My dear old man,' said Dizzy, grasping 
 him warmly by the hand, while a bright 
 smile lit up his ingenuous features, ' I 
 couldn't have been better pleased if I'd 
 done it myself!' 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 
 
 There never was such a little man as Mr 
 Binney for getting knocked down flat and 
 picking himself up again as cocky as ever. 
 Lucius's announcement of his engagement 
 to his cousin Betty brought him to his feet 
 as pompous as if he had never been fined 
 by a Proctor or rebuked by a Dean. 
 
 ' I never heard of such a thing,' he said 
 indignantly. ' Getting engaged to be married 
 at your age! Why, it's ridiculous. I won't 
 have it. That's flat.' 
 
 ' What won't you have, father ? ' lisked* 
 Lucius. * You can't stop my being engaged 
 to her, you know. That's over and done 
 with.' 
 
 'It is not over and done with, sir,' said 
 Mr Binney. 'The engagement, if there is 
 one, must be broken off,' 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 32X 
 
 ' Why ? ' asked Lucius. 
 
 ' Because I say so,' said his father, 
 
 'You ought to give me a reason,' said 
 Lucius. ' I'm not a child. I love her and 
 she loves me. Why shouldn't we be 
 married ? Of course I don't mean now, but 
 in two years' time or so, when you make me 
 a partner in the business.' 
 
 'You'll never be a partner in the business,' 
 said Mr Binney, ' if you persist in this folly. 
 You're a boy and she's a girl, and I won't 
 have it. It's ridiculous.' 
 
 ' Of course she's a girl. I shouldn't want 
 to marry her if she were an old woman,' said 
 Lucius. ' If you can't give me any better 
 reason than that, father, I don't think you're 
 treating me fairly.' 
 
 Mr Binney laid down the law for half-an- 
 hour or so longer. He did not produce a 
 better reason for refusing his sanction to 
 the engagement^ not having a better one to 
 produce, unjess he had told Lucius that 
 he was objecting simply for the pleasure of 
 asserting his authority, which was about the 
 long and short of it. Lucius left him at 
 last, somewhat dispirited, and sought the 
 society of Dizzy, his friend.' 
 
 ' Governor won't hear of it,' he said, 
 
 X 
 
322 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 laconically, as he threw himself into an easy 
 chair. 
 
 ' Why not ? ' asked Dizzy. 
 
 ' Wants to show his independence, I 
 fancy,' said Lucius. ' He talked a powerful 
 lot of rot. Told me he'd turn me out of the 
 house if I didn't break it off.' 
 
 ' Oh, he'll come round,' said Dizzy en- 
 couragingly. ' I know his little ways. You 
 stick to it. You'll find yourself settled in a 
 semi-detached villa at Brixton in a twelve- 
 month, bringing home a basket of fish for 
 dinner, and making a row about the water- 
 rate. It'll turn out right in the end. You 
 see if it don't.' 
 
 ' I don't see much chance of it,' said 
 Lucius despondently. ' The governor 
 swears he won't allow me enough to marry 
 on for five years at least. I've a good mind 
 to take to gambling and try and pick up a 
 bit that way.' 
 
 ' Rub your eyes, old man,' said Dizzy. 
 ' This is Cambridge. It isn't a novel by Alan 
 St Aubyn, although you are in love • with a 
 Newnham girl, a.nd the first fellow I've ever 
 known up here who's gone anywhere near it. 
 Not that they're not regular toppers, some of 
 them,' he added hastily, anxious to clear him- 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 323 
 
 self from any suspicion of being wanting in 
 chivalry. ' But that sort of thing don't 
 happen, as they say in the play. And that's 
 all about it.' 
 
 ' Well, it's happened with me,' said Lucius. 
 'And I'm pretty well down in the mouth 
 about it.' 
 
 ' Look here,' said Dizzy, ' Shall I go 
 and tackle your old governor.'' I daresay 
 he'd listen to me.' 
 
 Lucius laughed. ' I won't stop you,' he 
 said, ' but it won't be any good.' 
 
 'We'll see,' said Dizzy. 'I'll go at 
 once.' 
 
 When Lucius left his father, Mr Binney 
 began to turn over in his mind the news he 
 had received. He was not really displeased 
 at it now he came to think it over. Betty 
 Jermyn was a very charming girl, and there 
 was no objection to her on the score of 
 blood relationship, for her mother had only 
 been a second cousin of his wife's. They 
 were both very young, it is true, certainly 
 too young to marry yet ; but then they 
 did not want to marry yet. As far as money 
 was concerned, Mr Binney fully intended 
 to take Lucius into partnership with him in 
 two or three years' time. And even if the 
 
324 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 girl should prove to be penniless, as was 
 probable, Lucius would have quite enough 
 to marry on directly he gave him a share in 
 the business. At this point in his rumina- 
 tions Dizzy entered the room. 
 
 'Ah, Mr Binney!' he said. 'I thought 
 I'd just look you up as I was passing. 
 How's the work getting on ? ' 
 
 ' Very well, thank you, Stubbs,* replied 
 Mr Binney, with a pre-occupied air. ' Have 
 you heard anything about this nonsense 
 between Lucius and his cousin ? ' 
 
 ' What, Miss jermyn ? ' asked Dizzy. 
 ' Yes. I did hear they were thinking of 
 getting married or something of that sort. 
 I didn't take much notice of it.' 
 
 ' Theii you don't think Lucius is in earnest 
 about it ? ' 
 
 'Oh, I wouldn't say that. I should say 
 he was in devilish deep earnest.' 
 
 ' Now, look here, Stubbs,' said Mr Binney. 
 ' Don't you think it's a very ridiculous thing 
 a boy not much over twenty getting engaged 
 to be married ? ' 
 
 ' Well, if you ask me for a plain answer, 
 I can't say I do. ' I believe in early mar^ 
 riages myself. It don't come so hard on 
 the children. Now look at my case. My 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 325 
 
 old governor didn't marry till he was past 
 fifty. Wtat's the consequence? When I 
 go down irom this place and want to go 
 about a bit and amuse myself, I shall have 
 to sit by lis bedside and hold his hand. 
 I'm fond of my old governor, but it isn't 
 good enough.' 
 
 'That is a point, certainly,' said Mr 
 Binney, thoughtfully. 
 
 'Yes, and look at the other side of the 
 question,' continued Dizzy. 'You married 
 young yourself, I take it, and here you are 
 at the prime of life with a son old enough 
 to be a companion to you. Old enough! 
 Why, bless me, you're the younger of the 
 two, and that's a fact.* 
 
 Mr Binney was very much impressed by 
 this argument. 'There is a good deal in 
 what you say, Stubbs,' he remarked. ' I 
 don't want to be hard on the boy, of course, 
 and I've no objection to the girl personally. 
 She seems a very nice girl, what little I've 
 seen of her.' 
 
 'Oh, she's all right. She's a topper,' said 
 Dizzy. 
 
 'Of course I've got to keep up my 
 authority, you know,' pursued Mr Binney, 
 ' It won't do to slack the rein yet awhile.' 
 
326 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 * By George, no,' said Dizzy. ' I should 
 be a whale on parental authority myself if 
 I were in your place. Still, I don't think 
 you'll find Lucips disposed to question your 
 decision. He told me himself he had the 
 utmost faith in your judgment and should 
 follow your advice whatevo* it might cost 
 him.' 
 
 ' Did he really tell you that ? ' inquired 
 Mr Binney, somewhat surprised. 
 
 ' Well, he didn't put it quite in that way,' 
 admitted Dizzy. ' But that's about what it 
 came to.' 
 
 ' Then if he feels like that about it,' said 
 Mr Binney, ' I shall put no further obstacles 
 in his path. He's a good boy, Lucius, and 
 I'm pleased with him.' 
 
 ' He's got a good father,' said Dizzy. 
 ' That's about the size of it,' and he took 
 himself off to inform Lucius that he had 
 managed everything for him in a perfectly 
 satisfactory manner. 
 
 Mr Binney had asserted his authority and 
 was content. Subject to the approval of 
 Betty's parents, she and Lucius were allowed 
 to consider themselves engaged, with the 
 prospect of mq,rriage when Lucius should 
 reach the age of twenty-three. Mr and 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 327 
 
 Mrs Jermyn made no objections. Lucius 
 had made himself very popular in the 
 Norfolk rectory, and he was a good match 
 for their daughter from a worldly point of 
 view. He went about Cambridge for the 
 rest of that term in the seventh heaven of 
 happiness. 
 
 A few days after Lucius's future had been 
 satisfactorily settled for him, Mr Binney had 
 occasion to call on his Tutor. He now no 
 longer looked upon this as an ordeal. The 
 sternest official critic could have found no 
 flaw in his behaviour during that part of the 
 term that was past, and he had no intention 
 of giving any occasion for complaint during 
 the remainder of his residence in Cambridge. 
 He could hold up his head before anybody, 
 and entered the Tutor's presence with an air 
 of conscious worth. 
 
 Mr Rimington received him pleasantly and 
 attended to the business upon which Mr 
 Binney had come. ' I hope you are feeling 
 happy amongst us now that things are going 
 more smoothly, Mr Binney,' he said as he 
 blotted the paper in front of him. 
 
 ' Thank you,' said Mr Binney, ' University 
 life is full of interest to those who know how 
 to value it.' 
 
328 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Mr Rimington looked at him and smiled. 
 ' You have found out how to value it now, 
 have you ? ' he asked. 
 
 ' Certainly,* said Mr Binney. ' I hope, 
 sir, that you do not intend to allude to past 
 mistakes. I should resent such remarks 
 on your part.' 
 
 'Oh, not at all,' J said Mr Rimington 
 hastily, ' we have had no cause to complain 
 of you this term, Mr Binney, and I have no 
 wish to remind you of what is over and done 
 with. I hope, you are getting on well with 
 your work.' 
 
 * I expect to take a first in both parts of 
 the examination,' said Mr Binney, rising. 
 ' Good-morning sir.' 
 
 Mr Rimington smiled again to himself, 
 and shrugged his shoulders, when his pupil 
 had departed. ' I suppose I never shall 
 understand the commercially - trained mind, 
 he said to himself. Then he made a careful 
 note on a neatly-prepared document, put 
 it away in its pigeon-hole and dismissed 
 Mr Binney from his' mind. 
 
 As the summer term passed quickly away 
 with its feverish work arid its incessant 
 pleasures, for it is the term when examina- 
 tions closely jostle its crowded gaieties, Mr 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 329 
 
 Binney found himself nearing two important 
 events. In one week about the beginning 
 of June he was to go in for both parts of his 
 Little-go, and at the end of it to steer -the 
 First Trinity first boat in the May races. 
 With regard to his examination, he felt 
 confident of acquitting himself well. That 
 he was over-confident was shown' by his 
 foolish boast to Mr Rimington, for it is not 
 out of material such as himself that, first 
 classes are made, even in the most elemen- 
 tary examination that Cambridge affords. 
 But he had worked so hard that he was 
 certain of passing, and he looked forward 
 with trembling hope to a renewal of his 
 intercourse with Mrs Higginbotham as a 
 reward of his success. In being chosen to 
 steer the representative oarsmen of First 
 Trinity he had been extremely fortunate. 
 When he had so disgraced himself in the 
 previous term after the success of his boat 
 in the Lent races, Mirrilees had sworn that 
 he should never again steer a boat with 
 which he had anything to do. But one 
 of the coxswains tried for the first boat had 
 fallen ill, others had proved unsatisfactory, 
 and by the middle of term, by which time 
 Mr Binney had already proved that his 
 
330 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 manner of life would be innocuous for the 
 future, Mirrilees had relented, and he was 
 installed in the proud position that he so 
 coveted. Trinity Hall was the head boat 
 on the river, First Trinity was second, and 
 Third Trinity was behind them. All three 
 were considered equally good, and no one 
 could safely, prophecy what the result of the 
 races would be so far as they were concerned. 
 The Hall men laughed at the idea of losing 
 their place ; the First Trinity men expected 
 to bump them, and said so ; while Third 
 Trinity kept quiet, but expected to find 
 themselves in the second place if not head of 
 the river by the time the races were over. 
 . Lucius was rowing bow in the Third 
 Trinity boat, and his quiet confidence that 
 Third were a better crew than First exas- 
 perated Mr Binney, who wouldn't hear of 
 it. 
 
 ' Don't talk such nonsense,' he said in an 
 annoyed tone, when Lucius ventured to 
 advance the opinion that Third would finish 
 head of the river and First second. ' We 
 shall row away from you, and catch the Hall 
 at Ditton on the first night.' 
 
 'We shall see,' said Lucius calmly. 
 
 ' No, we shall not see, sir,' said Mr Binney 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 331 
 
 angrily. ' I mean we shall see. And we 
 shall see that I am right.' He had quite 
 recovered his bombastic tone, only he had 
 learnt by bitter experience to quell it, except 
 when addressing his son, who was too good- 
 tempered to resent it. 
 
 Betty, of course, showed the utmost in- 
 terest in the prospects of the Third Trinity 
 crew. She was delighted when she heard 
 that they were to row behind the boat which 
 was to be steered by Mr Binney, for she 
 still maintained a deep - rooted prejudice 
 against her future father-in-law, in spite of 
 the welcome he had given her as Lucius's 
 intended bride. ' If they bump them, and I 
 see it,' she said to one of her friends, the girl 
 from whom she had won the box of chocolate 
 creams, ' I think I shall scream with joy. 
 Oh, won't cousin Peter's face be worth see- 
 ing when he has to hold up his hand and 
 acknowledge he has been beaten. I'd give 
 worlds to see it.' 
 
 ' You show a very vindictive spirit,' said 
 her friend. 
 
 Mr Binney's time was fully occupied 
 between putting the finishing touches to his 
 reading, and his work on the river. He 
 had almost entirely dropped out of the 
 
S32 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 social side of University life. Although 
 his wings had been clipped, and he would 
 now have been a quite harmless companion, 
 the men with whom he might have 
 associated, had he behaved differently when 
 he first came up, still looked rather shyly 
 on him"; and he had entirely dropped the 
 society of men like Howden, for he had 
 learnt such a lesson that he would have 
 been almost frightened of results if one 
 of them had even come into his rooms. 
 Indeed, the poor little man led a very 
 dull life, and when he had time to think 
 about it, on Sundays perhaps, or for half- 
 an-hour after his work was done, and before 
 he went to bed, he often asked himself 
 what was the use of his staying up at 
 Cambridge at all since so much of what 
 he had hoped to gain from the place 
 seemed to have been an illusive dream. 
 He had lost his Martha, at anyrate for 
 the present, and in his moments of insight, 
 he could not disguise from himself the fact 
 that he was unpopular, although he en- 
 deavoured to carry off the conviction with 
 an added bumptiousness of manner which 
 did not endear him to those with whom 
 he came in contact. He was really much 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 333 
 
 to be pitied at this time, " but he had one 
 ambition left. He would probably have 
 made up his mind to leave Cambridge 
 after this term, when he would have passed 
 one examination and attained to a consider- 
 able measure of success on the river, but one 
 consideration deterred him. He hoped to be 
 chosen to steer the University boat in the 
 following spring, and on the chance of 
 having that ambition realised he would 
 have stayed on at Cambridge if everyone 
 in the place had cut him. 
 
 June came and brought the roses, and 
 with them the anxieties of Triposes and 
 all the multitude of lesser examinations. 
 Mr Binney went in for the Little-go. All 
 day long he sat at a narrow desk in the 
 Corn Exchange, that classical building 
 which the University of Cambridge periodi- 
 cally hires for the purpose of putting her 
 sons through their facings, and wrote 
 assiduously, only leaving off now and again 
 to gaze up at the roof with an expression of 
 agonised effort, or to rest his brain for a 
 minute by idly reading the' names on the 
 corn dealers' lockers which lined the walls. 
 On these occasions he would find his 
 thoughts wandering off to business affairs, 
 
334, PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 for the corn dealers' names meant con- 
 siderably more to Mr Binney than to the 
 other few hundred undergraduates who 
 attained a short-lived familiarity with 
 them during those few days of effort. But 
 when he found his thoughts slipping he 
 would bring them back with a frown and 
 wrestle eagerly with his translations and 
 his problems, for the card nailed on to the 
 desk before him reminded him that he 
 was * Binney of Trinity,' and that Peter 
 Binney of the Whitechapel Road must 
 be ignored at least for the next few days. 
 The examination lasted from the be- 
 ginning of the week until Friday, and the 
 May races began on ^that day. The hotels 
 and lodgings throughout the town gradually 
 filled up with ladies, old and' young, plain 
 and pretty, amiable and perhaps ill-tempered, 
 although the smiling faces one met in all 
 the streets might have given the impression 
 that all the bad-tempered ladies had been 
 left at home. But Mr Binney took very 
 little notice of the change. By day he 
 slaved in the Corn Exchange. After his 
 afternoon's work was over he went out 
 with his crew on the river. In the evening 
 he looked up his subjects for the fallowing 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 335 
 
 day, and went to bed early with his mind 
 full of books and boats. Even Mrs Higgin- 
 botham retired into the background of 
 his mind, and other, things were forgotten 
 entirely. By the time the examination was 
 over Mr Binney was rather despondent. 
 He had done fairly well, but not so well 
 as he had expected. But he remembered 
 a saying of his coach : 'If you think you 
 have done rather badly you may have 
 done well. If you think you have done 
 very badly, you probably have.' He knew 
 he jhad not done very badly, so he took 
 heart, dismissed the Little-go from his mind 
 entirely, and threw himself heart and 
 soul into anticipations of success in the 
 races. 
 
 We have already described the gay 
 scene on the river bank at Ditton Corner 
 in the May races, and one bumping race 
 is very much like another ; so the experiences 
 of Mr Binney, when he had steered in the 
 previous Lent races, were not unlike 
 those he underwent in the May's. Of 
 course he was now in a much more im- 
 portant position, and his appearance in the 
 coxswain's seat of the First Trinity boat, 
 as the First Division rowed down to the 
 
336 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Starting-point, never failed to cause a flutter 
 of amusement and , enquiry to go through 
 the waiting crowd at Dittbn Corner, which 
 brought a blush to the cheek of Betty 
 Jermyn, who was generally to be found in 
 a boat or on the bank, in a position from 
 which she could see everything that was 
 going on. She did not waste much time, 
 however, on the contemplation of Mr 
 Binney, in his dark blue coat and spfeckled 
 straw hat, for in the bows of the boat 
 just in front of him, as they rowed down 
 in reversed order, was a slim, muscular 
 figure whose eyes eagerly sought the 
 crowded ranks of the onlodkers as the 
 crews rested for a minute on their oars 
 before they went swinging round the bend 
 to their stations. Betty was very proud of 
 her lover then, for even her inexperienced 
 eyes could see that the grace and ease with 
 which he rowed were something to be 
 admired, and poor little Mr Binney sank 
 still lower in her esteem as he gave the 
 words of command : ' Get ready all ! For- 
 ward all ! Are you ready ? Paddle ! ' which 
 was the signal for his boat to move on. 
 
 On the first night of the races there 
 was no change in the position of the 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 337 
 
 three head jjoats. Third Trinity drew up to 
 First at Ditton Corner, but then fell away 
 and finished at about their distance. First 
 Trinity gained on the Hall, but never got 
 within a length of them. Mr Binney 
 steered with great judgment, and was 
 told that he could not have done better, 
 but he was disappointed at not catching 
 the head boat and a little alarmed at 
 Third Trinity having come so close to 
 them during the early part of the race. 
 
 ' They always bustle up like that at 
 first,' said Mirrilees, to whom he confided 
 his tremors. ' We shall keep away from 
 them all right, and I hope we shall catch 
 the Hall to-morrow.' 
 
 Mr Binney was comforted, but on the 
 next night Third not only got to within 
 a length of them at Grassy Corner but 
 hustled them right up the Long Reach 
 and very nearly caught them at the rail- 
 way bridge. This pursuit seemed, how- 
 ever, to have increased their own pace, for 
 it drove them right on to Trinity Hall, 
 whorn they very nearly succeeded in 
 bumping. All three boats passed the 
 winning post overlapping, but if Mr 
 Binney had made a shot at . the head 
 
S38 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 boat he would almost certainly have 
 missed it, and the boat behind would • 
 almost as certainly have run into them. 
 He was warmly congratulated on his 
 presence of mind by the Captain, but 
 he went home to his rooms by no means 
 at ease, for he now saw plainly that 
 Third Trinity were just as likely to bump 
 First as First Trinity were to catch Trinity 
 Hall, He was as keenly anxious as any 
 member of his crew to go head of the 
 river, and he felt that not 6nly to fail in 
 that object but to be taken down a place 
 instead would be more than he could 
 bear. It was characteristic of Mr Binney, 
 as may already have been gathered, to 
 throw himself heart and soul into what 
 he happened to be doing for the moment. 
 He had entirely dismissed all thoughts 
 of his late examination from his mind, 
 and even Mrs Higginbotham scarcely 
 entered his thoughts during the whole 
 of the next day, which was a Sunday, 
 as he walked or sat and went over 
 in his mind all the events of the last 
 two races and the probabilities of those 
 that were to come. He was alone -all 
 day, for he now had very few friends, 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 339 
 
 and Sunday was for Lucius a happy day 
 spent mostly in Betty's charming society. 
 So Mr Binney brooded, and by-and-bye 
 dark thoughts began to enter his mind. 
 
 During the progress of Saturday's race, 
 ■when First Trinity had been chased all 
 the way up the Long Reach by Third, 
 Mr Binney had cast one fleeting glance 
 behind him, and had seen the little india- 
 rubber ball on the nose of the Third 
 Trinity boat within a few inches of his, 
 own rudder, while the back of his son 
 was swinging regularly and steadily be- 
 hind it. An unreasoning anger and 
 jealousy had taken hold of his mind. It 
 was as much as he could do to prevent 
 himself from shouting out to Lucius to 
 ask him where he was coming to. It 
 seemed to him an intolerable thing that 
 he should be prevented from gaining 
 something that he wanted by the action 
 of his own son, and the more he thought 
 of it the more intolerable it seemed. He 
 had only to say a word to Lucius, and 
 Third Trinity would keep away from 
 him, for it was quite certain that if one 
 man in the boat ' sugared ' they would 
 have no chance of making a bump. 
 
340 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Should he say that word? That was 
 the black thought that held Mr Binney 
 in its grip during the whole of that 
 pleasant June Sunday, when Cambridge 
 was full of life and gaiety, and he only 
 wandered about lonely and distraught. 
 It would not be sportsman-like behaviour 
 certainly, but Mr Binney had not been 
 brought up to be a sportsman, and the 
 iniquity of the proceeding did not strike 
 him very forcibly. It also never entered 
 his head that Lucius would disobey his 
 behests if he brought pressure to bear 
 on him. Lucius was entirely dependent 
 on his father, and cpuld be threatened 
 with being immediately taken away from 
 Cambridge if he refused to do what he 
 was told. Mr Binney had worried himself 
 into such a fever of desire that he could 
 not bring himself to look upon his possible 
 defeat with the slightest equanimity. He 
 would have preferred that his boat should 
 have gone head of the river on the merits 
 of its crew, but rather than not go head 
 at all, he was prepared to take any steps 
 that would bring about what he desired. 
 
 But the morning light happily brought 
 better counsels. He dismissed his half- 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BUMP 341 
 
 formed intention of tampering with a 
 member of the Third Trinity crew, and went 
 down to the river with renewed hopes. 
 
 The First Trinity men rowed like heroes 
 and got up to the head boat at Ditton 
 Corner. Third were pressing them hard, 
 but lost a little by bad steering. The 
 shouts from the bank were deafening. Mr 
 BInney lost his head and made shot after 
 shot. If he had waited, his crew would 
 have made their bump. But in the mean- 
 time they lost ground, and Third was 
 creeping up again. Mr Binney turned 
 round in his seat and saw a long sharp 
 point with a little ball at the end of it 
 dancing gaily past his rudder. Behind it 
 was the back of his son, swinging regu- 
 larly. 
 
 ' Keep off!' roared Mr Binney, and made 
 another dab at the Head boat, then he 
 turned round again. The little ball was 
 within reach of him,, and behind it was 
 Lucius rowing more vigorously than ever. 
 Mr Binney was aware of the ball and the 
 back, and nothing else in all the world. 
 
 He lost his head completely and turned 
 round in his seat, half, rising, pulling his 
 right rudder line, and so crammed his boat 
 
342 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 right on to the high bank under the tow- 
 path. 
 
 ' Catch a crab, or you go down to- 
 morrow,' he shrieked to Lucius. 
 
 The next moment, he could never recall 
 how, he found himself floundering in the 
 river, in an inextricable confusion of boats, 
 oars, and shouting, struggling humanity. 
 He could not swim. As he rose to the 
 surface the blade of an oar hit him on the 
 head. He went down again, and gave 
 himself over, but when he came up the 
 second time he felt himself grasped by 
 the collar of his blazer. ' Don't kick ! 
 gasped the voice of his son. ' I'll get you 
 out.' 
 
 When he was hauled on to the tow- 
 path, panting and dripping, he turned round 
 on Lucius in' a fury. ' What do you mean 
 by it? It was your fault,' he shrieked. 
 ' You'll go down ! you'll go down ! ' 
 
 Mirrilees, dripping from head to foot, 
 with a slimy weed clinging round his leg, 
 shouldered his way through the crowd. 
 
 ' Hold your tongue, you little beast, or 
 I'll pitch you into the river again,' he said. 
 
 Other things happened to Mr Binney 
 that evening, of which he does not now 
 
THIRD TRINITY MAKES A BU¥P 34,8 
 
 speak. Some of them on his way to the 
 First Trinity boat-house, some of them when 
 he got there, others ,as he made his way 
 for the last time to his rooms in Jesus 
 Lane, and others again before he found 
 himself in the train on his way to London, 
 having shaken the dust of Cambridge froni 
 his feet for ever. The next night Third 
 Trinity bumped Trinity Hall and went 
 head of the river. First Trinity were 
 badly steered by the coxswain who had 
 been put into Mr Binney's place, and suc- 
 cumbed to Jesus. 
 
CHAPTER XVH 
 
 MR BINNEY DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A * BLUE ' 
 
 Nine months had passed and the nipping 
 March winds were raising the dust and 
 numbing noses and finger-tips in London, 
 while March sunshine was bringing out 
 daffodils and primroses in the country. It 
 was very cold on the river Thames between 
 Putney and Mortlake, but the sun wa^ 
 shining brightly, and a little party on the 
 deck of a steamer, which was making its 
 way with other similar craft to a station 
 near Barnes Bridge, seeimed to be quite 
 unaffected in spirits by the keen east wind, 
 for it was the morning of the Oxford and 
 Cambridge boat race. The party on the 
 steamer were all interested in the prospects 
 of one University, but the two crews were 
 so equal that none of the sporting critics 
 had ventured to prophecy the winner in 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 345 
 
 clear and unmistakable terms, and every- 
 body looked forward to seeing one of the 
 best races that had been rowed for years. 
 
 Surely that short but erect figure, stand- 
 ing in the bows, with a First Trinity scarf 
 showing above the collar of its overcoat 
 and the ruddy glow of health in its cheeks, 
 can belong to no one but Mr Peter Binney, 
 late of Trinity College, Cambridge. And 
 that ample, comfortable form on the seat 
 beside him with a fur-lined cloak and a 
 close-fitting bonnet, well-secured against 
 the wiftd, must be that of his true and 
 loyal wife, Martha Binney, relict of the 
 late Matthew Higginbotham. Here also 
 are the Reverend Dr Toller with his wife 
 and daughter, for Mr Binney still lives in 
 Russell Square, and is once more a valued 
 and important ofificial in the doctor's con- 
 gregation. Here also are Mr and . Mrs 
 Jermyn with their son and daughter, the 
 latter attended by the loquacious Dizzy, 
 while John Jermyn sticks close to the side 
 of Nesta Toller, rather to the dismay of 
 Mrs Jermyn, who, charitable woman as 
 she is, has not taken kindly to that young 
 lady's mother, and is not at all anxious 
 that this acquaintanceship which has been 
 
34,6 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 made under Mr Binney's hospitable roof, 
 should develop into intimacy. There are 
 other people on the boat which has been 
 chartered by Mr Binney for the entertain- 
 ment of his friends, but we need not con- 
 cern ourselves with them. There is one 
 very important person, however, amongst 
 those with whom our ' story has concerned 
 itself, who is not to be found there. Surely 
 Lucius, and not Dizzy, entertaining as that 
 gentleman's conversation is, should be found 
 by the side of Betty Jermyn. And by her 
 side Lucius certainly would be, if duty and 
 honour did not call him elsewhere. For 
 Lucius has occupied the bow seat of the 
 Cambridge boat ever since they went into 
 practice, and is even now, as Mr Binney's 
 steamer makes its way up the crowded 
 river, preparing to help launch the frail 
 shell which all those in whom we are in- 
 terested confidently hope will soon bear him 
 to victory. 
 
 Mr and Mrs Peter Binney are alone for 
 a time in the bows of the steamer. Let 
 us join them, and listen to their conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 'See what an interest the world takes 
 in this historic contest,' Mr Binney is 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 347 
 
 saying, waving his hand round towards 
 the river dotted with craft all moving the 
 same way, and the banks lined with a 
 dense, holiday-making mass. ' It makes 
 you proud of being able to call yourself a 
 'Varsity man.' 
 
 ' Yes, indeed,' answers his wife. ' And 
 to think of Lucius actually taking part in 
 it. I feel as proud as anything of the 
 dear boy.' 
 
 'So do I,* says Mr Binney heartily. 
 ' There was a time when I should have 
 been jealous of him. But that is all over 
 and done with. I've put such things be- 
 hind me. Here am I, settled down com- 
 fortably with a devoted and charming wife. 
 I can take life gratefully now as it comes, 
 and be just as proud of my boy distin- 
 guishing himself as if I had done it my- 
 self.' 
 
 ' That's the way to look at it, Peter,' 
 says Mrs Binney. 'We made a mistake 
 in thinking it was necessary for you to go 
 to Cambridge in order to keep yoUng. It's 
 love that keeps the heart young, and so 
 we've found, haven't we ? ' 
 
 ' Indeed we have, Martha,' says Mr 
 Binney. ' Ah ! Shall I ever forget what 
 
348 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 you did for me in that dark time of illness 
 and remorse ? Shall I ever forget reach- 
 ing home that morning, racked with 
 anguish at the thought of the ingratitude 
 I had displayed towards my noble-hearted 
 son, and the remembrance of the awful 
 , punishment I had received for my rash 
 folly ? How I sat indoors brooding over 
 the past, feeling wretched and miserable, 
 without hope or comfort. How the 
 next day I was too ill to get up, and by 
 night time was mercifully beyond the reach 
 of my remorseful thoughts, because of 
 the severe attack of pneumonia, which 
 the exposure and distress I had gone 
 through had brought on. How I lay for 
 days, tossing and burning on a couch of 
 rriisery, and woke at last to find your cool 
 hand stilling the throbbing of my burning 
 brain, and your angel voice falling in words 
 of balm on my distressed and fevered 
 spirit.' 
 
 ' Yes, dear,' says his wife as Mr Binney 
 pauses for breath, ' and then you soon 
 got better, didn't you?' 
 
 ' Shall I ever forget,' pursues Mr Binney 
 mo're energetically than ever, 'how, when 
 I came again to the realisation of all the 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 349 
 
 many follies I had committed, you soothed 
 and consoled me, how you brought my 
 boy to me, and neither of you would 
 listen to my broken cries of repentance, 
 but gave me calves' foot jelly and grapes 
 instead, and insisted upon carrying on a 
 cheerful conversation. How you brought 
 me the news of my success in the Little- 
 go, which was greater than I deserved, but 
 less than I expected ; and finally, Martha, 
 how you made me the happy man I am 
 to-day by promising to become mine when 
 I had sufficiently recovered, on the con- 
 dition that I should leave Cambridge 
 and settle down once more to my busi- 
 ness.' 
 
 'Yes, dear, and now we're all comfort- 
 able and happy,' says Mrs Binney. ' I 
 made mistakes too, Peter, as well as you, 
 but they're all over now. And — ' 
 
 ' Well, Mrs Binney,' interrupts a well- 
 known voice, 'this is something like, eh? 
 I don't know whether you know that if 
 you've got any microbes or things of that 
 sort in your system a wind like this blows 
 'em all away,' 
 
 , 'I didn't know it, Mr Stubbs,' says Mrs 
 Binney, with a pleasant smile. 'But Ihave 
 
350 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 no doubt the wind is a very good thing if 
 only it wouldn't hlovr, all one's hair about 
 one's face so ? ' 
 
 ' Ah, dear lady ! ' says Dizzy, ' you may 
 consider yourself lucky you've got any hair 
 io be blown about. Now look at the top of 
 my old pepper-box. I haven't had to use a 
 comb for a year, and I shall soon be able to 
 part my hair with a towel. You wouldn't 
 like to be like that, would you ? ' 
 
 ' No,' says Mrs Binney, ' But you are 
 very young to be going so bald, Mr Stubbs. 
 What do you attribute it to ? ' 
 
 It appears that Dizzy attributes his grow- 
 ing baldness to hard work and • care com- 
 bined, but just as he is explaining this to 
 the sympathetic Mrs Binney, the steamer 
 shuts off steam and is turned and backed 
 with a good deal of commotion into her 
 berth just by Barnes Bridge. 
 
 There is another hour to wait, but the 
 time goes by somehow. The party stamp 
 about the deck and huddle themselves up 
 in coats and cloaks to keep themselves warm, 
 and by-and-bye a muffled roar from a mile 
 away down the river, warns them that the 
 boats are drawing near. The roar deepens 
 and increases, and by-and-bye, leaning over 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 351 
 
 the rail of the steamer, they can see the 
 rhythmic flash of oars in the sunshine, and 
 nearer and nearer come the two boats, with 
 the Umpire's launch fussing along just behind 
 them, and the four steamers which follow 
 the race in the background, the Cambridge 
 steamer — absit omen / — some way behind 
 the rest. Now they are alongside, and a 
 mighty cheer goes up from all the throats 
 in Mr Binney's steamer as they pass, and 
 Cambridge is. seen to be leading by half a 
 length. Just here Oxford makes a spurt, 
 and creeps up level. Cambridge answers it, 
 and on they go under Barnes Bridge, fight- 
 ing every inch of the way as they have done 
 ever since the starting gun sent them off" like 
 grey-hounds from the leash, four miles down 
 the river at Putney. 
 
 Our party spends five minutes of breath- 
 less expectation, after boats and following 
 steamers have past out of sight, and then 
 another cheer, louder than the first, goes up 
 as the light blue flag slowly unfurls itself 
 from the flag-staff at the finish of the course, 
 and the dark blue is run up underneath it. 
 Then mutually congratulating one another 
 with every expression of delight and fulfilled 
 expectations, our party steams away down 
 
352 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 the river, very well pleased with their after- 
 noon's amusement. 
 
 On the night of the boat race Lucius 
 dined with the crews ; but while he was by 
 no means a dr^g on the hilarity of the pro- 
 ceedings, and may be said on the whole to 
 have enjoyed himself, he often found himself 
 wishing that he was at home in Russell 
 Square, where Betty was. He had declined 
 the invitation he had received' tp the 'Blue' 
 Monday dinner, as Mr Binney had an- 
 nounced his intention of exercising his 
 hospitality on that evening in honour of the 
 distinction Lucius had gained in rowing in 
 the winning University crew. The company 
 was the same as that which had graced Mr 
 Binney's board in the Easter vacation a year 
 before, with the exception of Miss Tupper, 
 who had not entered the house since Mrs 
 Higginbotham had taken her place there, 
 and with the addition of Mrs Jermyn, Betty, 
 and John. The Reverend Julius Jermyn had 
 returned to his parish in Norfolk directly 
 after the boat race on the previous Saturday. 
 The Tollers would not have been there had 
 not Mrs Toller practically asked herself. 
 She was sweetness itself in her intercourse 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 353 
 
 with Mrs Binney, but although her claws 
 were sheathed they were not cut, and were 
 likely to spring out at a moment's warning 
 if she were offended, and Mrs Binney had 
 wisely given in at once, and warmly prof- 
 fered the invitation which was being fished 
 for. Mrs Toller could not come without 
 her husband, and Nesta had been asked in 
 order to fill up. 
 
 Mr Binney took in Mrs Jermyn. It was 
 known that Mrs Toller would resent this, 
 but she was placed on her host's left, having 
 been paired off w^ith Dizzy, to whom" she 
 had taken a great fancy, and smiled sweetly 
 as she took her seat after the Doctor's ex- 
 tempore grace. Lucius was allowed to 
 take in Betty, and sat between her and 
 her mother. Next to Betty came Dr Toller 
 on Mrs Binney's left. On the other side of 
 the table was John Jermyn; who had been 
 made happy with Nesta Toller, with Dizzy 
 and Mrs Toller next to them. The table 
 was decorated with Lucius's silver cups, 
 standing on an artistically crinkled square 
 of light blue silk. The menus, adorned with 
 appropriate aquatic emblems and the arms 
 of the two Universities, had been ordered 
 expressly from Messrs Breedon & Co., 
 
354 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 and were quite in the orthodox Cambridge 
 style. 
 
 ' Very pretty,' said Mrs Toller, examining 
 hers when she had settled herself. ' One 
 might almost imagine oneself transported to 
 Cambridge, Mr Stubbs. Quite delightful, 
 is it not ? ' 
 
 'Yes,' said, Dizzy, 'although to tell you 
 the truth, I'm getting a bit tired of Cam- 
 bridge.' 
 
 ' Oh ! but I thought young men never 
 got tired of University life,' said Mrs 
 Toller. ' I have always heard that it was 
 so very attractive. I'm sure you found it 
 so, didn't you, Mr Binney ? ' 
 
 But Mr Binney was engaged with Mrs 
 Jermyn and affected not to have heard the 
 inquiry. 
 
 ' It's all very well for a bit,' said Dizzy, 
 'but when a fellow gets my age he wants to 
 settle down and do something.' 
 
 ' Oh ! come,' said Mrs Toller, ' you're 
 not so old ais all that, Mr Stubbs.' 
 
 'Not in years perhaps,' said Dizzy. 
 'But I assure you that in other things 
 Methuselah was a babe compared with me. 
 I sometimes sit and, look at fellows amusing 
 themselves, and I say to myself: "Well, 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 355 
 
 you are a set o' Jugginses. Call this life ! 
 Why, you ought all to be in the nursery !" 
 However, I've only got one more term and 
 the virhole thing will be over.' 
 
 ' And what are you going to do when you 
 leave the University ? ' asked Mrs Toller. 
 'Are you still thinking of entering the 
 Church?' 
 
 ' Oh ! bless me, no,' said Dizzy. ' That's 
 off. My old father got a bit frightened 
 when these Kensit Johnnies began bully- 
 ragging all over the place. He's a far- 
 sighted old fellow. He saw that if I got 
 shoved into a comfortable living and then 
 they went and disestablished it or some- 
 thing, I should get left.' 
 
 ' Have you ever turned your attention to 
 the Nonconformist ministry?' inquired Mrs 
 Toller. 
 
 ' No, I can't say I have,' replied Dizzy. 
 "Is there much in it?' 
 
 ' The incomes made by our leading men 
 are superior to anything in the Establish- 
 ment,' said Mrs Toller. 'Our people have 
 been taught to give. 
 
 'Have they?' said Dizzy, with interest. 
 'Well now, that's worth knowing. I'll put 
 my old governor on to that. If you hear 
 
356 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 of a soft thing going, I shall consider it very 
 kind of you if you'll drop me a line. One's 
 got to keep one's eyes skinned to pick up a 
 living now-a-days. We're getting ready 
 for the bar now, to tell you the t-ruth. My 
 old father was dining with a railway fellow 
 down our way, and he told him that they 
 spent I forget how many thousands a year 
 on litigation. My governor's a cute old 
 bird, and he thought it wouldn't be a bad 
 thing if I could pick up a bit of it, so I've 
 been eating dinners at Lincoln's Inn for the 
 last year or so, and precious poor dinners 
 they are too. I don't think I shall take to 
 it much. In fact, the governor's been 
 dropping hints about diplomacy lately. It 
 seems he's found out from the papers that 
 the people ain't over and above pleased with 
 the way things have been carried on by the 
 ambassadors we've got now, and he thinks 
 there might be a chance there in a few 
 years' time. I don't much care what it 
 is.^ I suppose I shall keep going some- 
 how.' 
 
 Lucius and Betty were talking quietly 
 togetlier on the other side of the 
 table. 
 
 ' Only two more years,' Lucius was 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A «BLUE' 357 
 
 saying. 'Won't it be ripping, Betty, when 
 we're settled down in a house of our 
 own?' 
 
 ' I don't think we shall ever have a better 
 time than we've had for the last year at 
 Cambridge,' said Betty. 'And think of 
 another summer term there together.' 
 
 Lucius's face lit up. ' There's nothing like 
 a summer term at Cambridge when the 
 girl you're in love with is there,' he said. 
 ' We'll go on the Backs in a canoe every fine 
 afternoon. I say, Betty, do you remember 
 that backwater ? ' 
 
 ' Of course I do, you silly boy,' said Betty. 
 ' I haven't forgiven you yet for getting me 
 to go up it on false pretences. I'll see that 
 you don't get me there again though.' 
 
 ' I'll take particular good care that I do,' 
 said Lucius. * I like that backwater better 
 than any place in Cambridge. Betty, what 
 shall you do when I've gone down?' 
 
 ' I know I shall be very miserable,' said 
 Betty, her face falling. ' But don't let us 
 talk about that. We shall have another 
 summer term together.* 
 
 Dr Toller was making himself pleasant to 
 his hostess. He was a very agreeable man 
 when he succeeded in banishing from his 
 
358 PETER "FINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 mind ' the P iblems that confront the Age,' 
 and brought himself down to the level of 
 those who are content to let the Age worry 
 along in its own way without making too 
 much noise about it. Mrs Binney, at the 
 head of her own table, was a very attractive 
 figure in a gown of rich black silk, festooned 
 with hangings of lace, and smiled engagingly' 
 at the Doctor's conversation. 
 
 'Yes, Doctor,' she said, in answer to a 
 remark from him, ' I feel I am a very 
 fortunate woman. I have a comfortable 
 house and the best of husbands. Peter is 
 consideration itself to all my little whiifts, 
 and I assure you I have a great many 
 whims. There was a time wheii I feared 
 that this happiness would never come to 
 me. You know all about it and were very 
 kind to me when I thought it my duty to 
 cut myself off from all these . bright pros- 
 pects. , I am thankful that that "trouble 
 passed away and I was not conipelled to 
 spend the rest of my life by myself There 
 is the closest confidence between me and 
 my husband. He is of a sanguine dis- 
 position, and I think I may say that any 
 weight of character I may have attained 
 to. — and you know, Doctor, I am a weighty 
 
DRINKS T^HE HEALTH OF h BLUE' 359 
 
 woman in more ways than or.£ — keep^s the 
 balance true. There is not a happier 
 couple in all Bloomsbury than Peter and 
 myself, and you know that in marrying him 
 I have gained a son, which is a great joy 
 to me, for I never had a child of my own. 
 Lucius treats me with the greatest respect 
 and affection, and I could not be fonder 
 of him than if he were my own. I am as 
 proud as anyone of his success to-day. 
 Cambridge, has not proved an unmixed 
 source of pleasure to me, as you know, but 
 I have seldom performed a more agreeable 
 duty than when I arranged this light blue 
 silk on the table this afternoon with my 
 own hands. Anything that I can do to- 
 wards making the dear boy's life happy 
 with the sweet girl he is going to marry 
 I shall do, as if they were my own children, 
 and consider myself fortunate in being per- 
 mitted to do.' 
 
 If Mrs Binney could speak in such, 
 terms of gratitude of the new life she had 
 entered upon,' what words could be too 
 strong for her husband to use in describing 
 his content in having gained as his help- 
 mate that most estimable woman. She was 
 the theme on which he was expatiat- 
 
360 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 ing to Mrs Jermyn while the conversa- 
 tions already recorded were going on 
 around him. 
 
 ' Nobody knows/ Mr Binney was saying, 
 'what that woman has been to me. She 
 has stuck by me in sickness and in health, 
 when I was working at the business to 
 which I was brought up, and when I was 
 trying to do something that I oughtn't have 
 tried to do. You know all about that, 
 Elizabeth, so I don't mind mentioning it to 
 you, although it's all over now. I can't 
 say that I'm altogether sorry to have had 
 the mental training that University life 
 affords. Nobody can deny that there's a 
 difference between a man who has been at 
 the University and one who hasn't. You've 
 had a husband at Oxford and a son at 
 Cambridge and you know that as well as 
 I do. But still on the whole I acknow- 
 ledge that Oxford and Cambridge are for 
 the young fellows. When I saw Lucius 
 pulling away in such perfect style in that 
 boat on Saturday afternoon I can tell you 
 it warmed my heart to see it. And Martha 
 feels just the same as I do about it. She 
 told me so. Nobody knows, Elizabeth, 
 what a treasure I've found in that woman. 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' S6l 
 
 And as for Lucius, well, he didn't take to 
 the idea kindly at first — I don't know that 
 it was to be Expected that he should — but 
 they're as fond of one another as they 
 can be now, and — and it makes me very 
 happy to see it — very happy.' 
 
 The conversation became more general 
 after this, and great were the merriment 
 and goodwill round Mr Binney's table. 
 
 When dinner was over and the servants 
 had left the room, Mr Binney rose to his 
 feet. There was an expectant silence and 
 a rapping on the table from all except 
 Lucius, who knew what was coming and 
 wished it was well over. 
 
 ' Ladies and gentlemen,' said Mr Binney, 
 • I rise to perform a very pleasant duty, a 
 duty which I am proud of having occasion to 
 perform, a duty which I am sure all the 
 friends I see gathered round me to-night 
 will join with me heartily in — in performing, 
 a duty which — which I will now perform. I 
 rise, ladies and gentlemen, to propose the 
 health of my son Lucius, who rowed with 
 such conspicuous success in the Cambridge 
 boat last Saturday.' (Murmured but heart- 
 felt applause, rappings on the table, and 
 ' Well rowed, Lucy, well rowed,' from 
 
362 PETER BINNEY, UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 Dizzy.) 'We have gathered, round our. 
 table to-night,' continued Mr Binney, ' four 
 members of the University of Cambridge.' 
 (' Five, sir, five,' from Dizzy.) Mr Binney's 
 puzzled eye searched quickly round the table 
 and lit upon Betty. 'Five, of course,' he 
 said,, ' for have we not a fair representative 
 of the great College of Newnham in the 
 person of the dear girl whom I hope, soon 
 to welcome as a daughter?' (Renewed 
 applause.) 'We have also a distinguished 
 member of another University, or rather of 
 two Universities, for my friend Dr Toller is 
 a Bachelor of Arts of the University of 
 London and a Doctor of Divinity — honoris 
 causd — of the University of Joppa, Pa,, 
 across the water. And speaking for the 
 ladies, I am sure there is not one present 
 here to-night whose sympathies do not go 
 out to the great University to which I have 
 the honour to belong.' (Rappings and sub- 
 dued acquiescent murmurs from the ladiei 
 with the exception of Mrs Toller, who 
 thought Oxford rather more aristocratic.) 
 ' I needn't say,' pursued Mr Binney, 'that to 
 become a " Blue " is to gain the proudest 
 position which Cambridge can afford, and to 
 become a rowing " Blue " is perhaps the 
 
DRINKS THE HEALTH OF A 'BLUE' 363 
 
 highest distinction of all, I have always 
 had occasion to be proud of my son through- 
 out his school and University career, and I 
 am prouder than ever of him to-night.' 
 (Applause.) ' These trophies, ladies and 
 gentlemen, and this decoration of light blue, 
 are signs of^his having distinguished himself 
 in the highest possible degree in one path of 
 life — the path which only those who have 
 youth, strength, and health on their side 
 can hope to tread. In proposing the health 
 of my son Lucius, I am sure you will join 
 with me in wishing him equal success in 
 other paths of life in the future, a success 
 which, with the charming young lady who 
 has promised to share it with him, I for one 
 feel confident of his attaining. Ladies and 
 gentlemen, — My son Lucius.' 
 
BSADBURY ASKEW & CO. LD., PRINTERS 
 LONDOM AHD TOHBSIDGE. 
 
" HE IS A GREAT WRITER, AND HAS WRITTEN 
 A GREAT BOOK." 
 
 HEATHER 
 
 By John Trevena, Author of "Furze the Cruel," 
 
 " Armlnel of the West." and " A Pixy in 
 
 Petticoats." Now Ready. 6b. 
 
 The Daily Mail says: "Expected a great 
 novel from him, and he has given it. . . . Not 
 only a great novel, but a great book as well, for 
 ' Heather ' is more than a novel. It is not a story 
 told by one who has only the gift of story-telling, 
 though it might have been that and still a good 
 novel, for the gift of story-telling is by no means a 
 little thing. But Mr. Trevena has nwre than that 
 one gift ; he has intellect and sympathy, and his 
 stirring, passionate tale is touched with philosophy, 
 without which, perhaps, no novel ever becomes a 
 living book. ' Heather ' is full of thought — thought 
 that is a little harsh and rebellious at times, but 
 always great and courageous, and often wise. . . . 
 Mr. Trevena has genius. It hardly matters where 
 he sets his characters — ^whether in huts on the 
 moor, in village hovels, in the sanatorium, or in the 
 vicarage, he makes them alive to us. They are 
 many, but we remember them all, and shall 
 remember them long. We are not more likely to 
 forget them than we are persons whom we have 
 really met in life. 
 
 " But beyond the moor, beyond the many persons 
 and scenes and incidents, is Mr. Trevena. A 
 moralist, a stern yet kindly moralist, a man with a 
 big mind, is telling the tale. He preaches at us, 
 but we do not object, for he is giving us health and 
 courage, just as the strong wind of Dartmoor gives 
 them. As the patients in the sanatorium gained 
 weight by breathing the keen air, so we, morally 
 and intellectually, gain weight by reading 
 Mr. Trevena, for he has much to give. He is a 
 great writer, and h%s written a great book — quite 
 one of the best that has appeared for a long time." 
 
 365 
 
"the 'uncle tom's cabin' of south 
 
 AFRICA." 
 
 LEAVEN ; A BLACK 6 
 WHITE STORY 
 
 By Douglas Blaokbum, Author of " Prinsloo of 
 Frinsloosdorp," etc. 6s. 
 
 The morning leader says: "The truth 
 about South Africa is sometimes a matter of 
 so much variety that perhaps fiction is no bad 
 name for it. Fiction so fervid and realistic, 
 yet so restrained, as ' Leaven : A Black and 
 White Story ' (with a suggestive ' cat ' of ten 
 tails on the cover), is, at any rate, an effective 
 way of calling serious attention to undoubted 
 evils. '. . . We cannot enter into all the 
 questions raised by this startling novel. It 
 describes individual characters as well as cus- 
 tomary abuses, like iloggings and the fiendishly- 
 contrived stocks, the results of which, when 
 thirst is added to cramp, shock even a mine' 
 company-directot. It arraigns the individual 
 colonist no less than the Government of Natal ; 
 it is an indictment of white civilisation, from 
 the futile missionary and the stupid ofiScidl to 
 the hanger-on of the law courts. It may well 
 be the ' Uncle Tom's Cabin ' of South Africa." 
 
 ;3® 
 
THE FIFTH VOLUME OF THE "EVERGREEN 
 NOVELS " IS NOW READY. ASK FOR 
 
 HUGH RENDAL 
 
 A Public School Story. 
 
 By Lionel Portman, Author of "Station 
 Studies,'' etc. Is. uett. 
 
 " The book is an admirable study of school life ; 
 with only a few slight changes we could convert it 
 into a correct account of certain years of the life 
 of a schoolwhlch certainly was not in Mr. Portman's 
 mind when he wrote." — Morning Post. 
 
 " It is a bright, attractive story, and it may be 
 hoped that, despite its appearance in the guise of 
 an ordinary novel, it will reach the hands of 
 hundreds of readers yet in their ' teens,' for it will 
 surely pleasg them no less than it has us." — Daily 
 Telegraph. 
 
 " And yet I really do thinl; this book of Mr. Port- 
 man's may be quite fairly compared with the 
 greatest school story ever written. It cannot, of 
 course, expect to take the same classical rank, for 
 it is an imitation, and it lacks the inimitable style 
 of the older book. Nevertheless, it is an excep- 
 tionally good piece of work. . . . Also — I really 
 forgot this — it contains a ripping account of a 
 football match (I^ugby), well worthy to be set 
 alongside the famous game in which Harry East 
 distinguished himself. If it had no other recom- 
 mendation, I should keep it on my shelves just for 
 'this." — Mr. H. Hamifton Fyfe in the Evening 
 News. 
 
 " Altogether his is the best public school story 
 which we have read for many years." — Daily 
 Graphic. 
 
 36? 
 
BY THE AUTHOR OF " PETER BINNEY, 
 UNDERGRADUATE," ETC. 
 
 EXTON MANOR 
 
 By Archibald Marshall. Author of " The House 
 of MerrUees," etc. 6s. 
 
 "There is, indeed, some refreshment in finding 
 a clever man nowadays who does not fear to be 
 considered old-fashioned. This is really an old- 
 fashioned novel ; it might, perhaps, appeal to those 
 who love Trollope." — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " Better than any of its predecessors. It is, 
 indeed, a full novel; not a short story, bold-typed 
 and liberal-margined to look like such, but a novel 
 of over 400 generous pages ; and one of the best 
 testimonies to its excellence is to be found in the 
 fact that it is not a page too long." — Daily 
 Telegraph. 
 
 "We should have been delighted if there had 
 been 812 pages instead of 406, and if the Vicar had 
 not been removed, and if the Dqvrager Lady 
 Wrotham had continued interminably to be 
 arbitrary in her village, and the Vicaress spiteful, 
 and the deceased wife's sister charming. 
 Mr. Marshall has done a rare and valuable thing. 
 He has made a novel out of a study of manners." — 
 Morning Leader. 
 
 "It is a pleasure to, read a book like 'Exton 
 Manor.' There is nothing that is cheap or clumsy 
 in its construction." — Standard. 
 
 "Altogether a novel which is not merely enter- 
 taining, but sane, wholesome, and excellently 
 observed — qualities by no means invariably found 
 combined in modern fictions" — Punch. 
 
 " A very long book that never becomes dull ; a 
 careful chronicle of the deeds and the thoughts of 
 quite ordinary people that never becomes weari- 
 some." — Daily Express. 
 
 " We really seem to breathe and live in the 
 society of the neighbourhood." — Athenceum. 
 
 368 
 
jllstoti Rloer$'$ Publtcatiotis 
 
 INCLUDING SPRING AND 
 SUMMER ANNOUNCEMENTS, 1908. 
 
 LONDON : ALSTON RIVERS, LIMITED 
 BROOKE STR8E.> HOLBORN BARS, E.C. 
 
yktion- 
 The Sword Decides! By the Author of 
 
 " The Viper OF Milan," and "The Glen o' Weeping. 
 MARJORIE BOWEN. Second Impression. 6s. 
 
 *'Tbi5 remarkable book is a series of tlie most vivid Italian illuminations, a 
 collection of word pictures, as detailed and as splendid as the choicest gems from 
 ' Les tiis riches heures ' . . . She has told it with so much p<nver and insight that 
 it lives and convinces the reader without any need of proof. In this third novel the 
 wiiter has ^one back to the source of her first success, * The Viper of Milan,' but she 
 brings to^this later story so much more strength of characterisation, so much greater 
 freedom in the handling of the plot, and such a great deepening of emotional power, 
 that the earlier book, praised as it was when it appeared, will seem a pate and 
 amateurish novel beside its wonderful successor," — The Westminstbk Gazette. 
 
 " A splendid book. Splendid in that it is full-blooded, bold, dashing, flaming- 
 coloured ; splendid in that it goes with a tremendous clattering swing ; splendid in 
 that it b played under the full glare of blazing sunshine."— The Daily Graphic 
 
 " It is probable that she will settle down for the next few years upon such repu- 
 tation as * The Sword Decides ' may make for her. If that is so, we do not think she 
 has much to fear. . . . The breathless spirit of the thing is so well sustained that it is 
 impossible not to be carried away by it. i , . Her thiri book we think, secures her 
 reputation." — The Daily Telegraph. 
 
 _ "For the scene of her new novel Miss Manorie Bowen has returned to the country 
 with which she won her first success. . . . This romance, indeed, in many ways, is 
 superior to anything that its author has ever written. ... In fact, her remarkable 
 gifts of description, her quick eye for romance and passion and drainatic effect, never 
 seriously falter. The whole story mores with resistless might to a great and 
 awe-inspiring climax, in which a fierce conflict wages."— The Standard. 
 
 rIeS.'triera By the Author of "A Pixy in Petticoats," 
 " Arminel of the West," and " Furze the Cruel." 
 JOHN TREVENA. 6s. 
 
 *' Almost everywhere on Dartmoor are furze, heather, and ^anite. The furze 
 seems to suggest cruelty, the heather endurance, and the granite strength. The 
 furze is destroyed hy fire, but grows again ; the granite is worn away imperceptibly 
 by the rain. Thb work is the first of a proposed trilogy, which the author hopes to 
 Continue and complete with * Heather ' and * Granite.* " 
 
 So ran Mr. John Trevena's Introductory Note in " Furze the Cruel," the brilliant 
 success of which was one of the features of last year's publishing. Could there eidtt, 
 it was asked by readers whose information was confined to holiday tours in the West, 
 among those pleasant Devonshire folks men so brutal and so devoid of moral sense ? 
 Yes, answered those who knew, it was too true,^ and no more fsuthful picture of life 
 among the Dartmoor peasants has ever been presented. Butt happily, there are mtmy 
 delightful characters around Dartmoor for Mr. Trevena to portray, and though no 
 Devonshire novel which blinked the depravity and ignorance that prevail could be 
 pronounced really artistic, the title of "Heather," as being typical of endurance, 
 suggests a singularly attractive story. 
 
 A Case for Conn promise. By the Author 
 
 of " The Adventures of Count O'Connor." HENRY 
 STAGE. 6s. 
 
 Mr. Henry Stace's name is familiar as the author of the rattling " Adventures of 
 Count O'Connor," which was much appreciated. The author's delightful sense of 
 humour and his pure literary style are sure to win him a wide popularity in the near 
 future, and "A Case for Compromise " will be found to be even more entertaming 
 than the author's first work. 
 
The People Downstairs. By the Author 
 
 of "Mr. Meyer's Pdpil." EVA LATH BURY. 6s. 
 
 Few new writers bave enjoyed a more satisfactory dibut than Mias Eva 
 I.athbury. Her first novel, " Mr. Meyer's Pupil," was so extremely intellectual and 
 refined that some publishers might well have hesitatedin taking it up. The discern- 
 ment of the English novel reader, however, was once more vindicated, and the ^ 
 majority of the critics w^re highly complimentary, one reviewer ^oing so far sis to 
 suggest that Miss Lathbury would found a school of her own in fiction. The delicate 
 wit that distinguished "Mr. Meyer's Pupil" pervades "The People Downstairs," 
 which is sure to enhance an already enviable reputation. 
 
 A Bride on Trust. By the Author of tears of 
 Angels," "An Imperial Love Stoky," etc. CAPT. 
 HENRY CURTIES. 6s. 
 
 "A wonderful royal romance." — Times. "A veritable feast of romance and 
 sensadon of the better type."— Globe. "A capital book."— Daily Graphic. 
 " A stirring and original story."— Biewingbam Post. " Capt. Ciuties has achieved 
 another success."— Liverpool Post. 
 
 Attainment. By the Author of "Kit's Woman," and 
 "My Cornish Neighbours." MRS. HAVELOCK 
 ELLIS. 6s. 
 
 Mrs. Havelock Ellis is already rebponsible for two books, one of which was the 
 delightful volume of Cornish sketches entitled " My Gornish Neighbours" ;_ the 
 other " Kit's Woman," a fine story of which the characterisation was much sidmlted. 
 " Attainment," however, is her first attempt at a long novel, and its appearance is 
 being eagerly awaited by a large curcle of novel readers. The story is founded on 
 experiments socialistic, philanthropic and idealistic, and points to the value of a 
 natural life in every respect. 
 
 A Melton Monologue. 
 
 DIANA CROSSWAYS. 33. 6ci. 
 
 " Those'who appreciate buntinc and huntini; sketches will delight in this bright 
 and interesting picture. . . . Should attain considerable popularity."" — Southport 
 Guardian. 
 
 The Disinherited of the Earth, 
 
 By the Author of "The Tower of Siloam." MRS. 
 HENRY GRAHAM. 6s. 
 
 Mrs. Henry Graham's previous novel, " The^ Tower of Siloam," was a notable 
 success, her thorough knowledge, of society being at once recognised. For her 
 second book she has chosisn a very different phase of life among the wealthy classes, 
 the .bigoted Lady Verrier being a distinct creation^ whereas in her first book the 
 author did not attempt to overstep the line of conventionality. In " The Disinherited 
 of the EarSi," moreover, a most commendable restraint is to be noted, while the 
 characterisation is excellent throughout. _^^ ^, 
 
 Prinsloo of Prinsioosdorp. By 
 
 "SAREL ERASMUS" (DOUGLAS BLACK- 
 BURN). A new edition of a South African Classic. 
 Cloth gilt, •* 2s- 
 
 Though on publication nine years or so ago, "Prinsloo of Prinsloosdorp** 
 achieved a marked success in South Africa, and in circled well versed in South 
 African affairs, there is no doubt that the little book never met'vnth, the general 
 appreciation it deserved. On its merits it is a classic, and, thoi^h possibly the Boer 
 and his ways may have altered, as a record of bow a white rroublic couid be 
 governed in modem times, the "Tale of Transvaal Officialdom can never be 
 excelled. Certainly nothing more humorously naiye has ever been written than this 
 vindication, ostensibly written by his son-in-law, of the much maligned Piet 
 Prinsloo's memory ; it should occupy a place in the bookshelf of everyone who likes 
 to be intellectually amused. 
 
Leaven : A Black and White 
 
 story, DOUGLAS BLACKBURN. 6s. 
 
 ■_ The author, of " Prinslbo of Frinslposdorp " has more than once pr»ved his ability 
 to write a sustained and, serious story^ and though certain asp^ects of life in South 
 Africar are so absurd as to be merely amusing, there is no question that the native 
 problem with which he has chosen to deal in his latest book, is sufficiently grave. So 
 ' far the Kafir in fiction has either been a farcical chatt^box or an object lesson of futile 
 humanitarianism. Witty and pathetic as Mr^ Douglas Blackburn can be on occasion, 
 he indulges in neither U>w comedy, nor sickly sentimentality in "Leaven." He 
 traces the young Kafir from leaving his native luraal in guilty haste, to th6 luxury of 
 a j;ood position in a mining compound. Incidentally young Bulalie is cast into 
 phson and treated with the grossest brutality^ and the characters who are concerned 
 m his abasement and rescue are altogether original ; the unconventional missionary, 
 die Fietermaritzberg landlady, and the compound manager, are only a few of the 
 admirable sketches which make " Leaven " a novel of remarkable and original merit. 
 
 General £iter^ture» 
 London Dead, and other Verses. 
 
 C. KENNETT BURROW. Is. net. 
 
 The Lost Water, and other Poems. 
 
 MRS. I. K. LLOYD. Is. net. 
 
 Two more important additions to The Contemperary Pcets Series, 
 
 From a Hertfordshire Cottagfe. 
 
 W. BEACH THOMAS. 3s. 6Cl. 
 
 A collection of Essays by this well-known "nature'' writer. Should not be 
 missed by the owner of even the most modest library of country life. 
 
 With the iVi.C.C. in Australia. 
 
 MAJOR PHILIP TREVOR. Is. net. 
 
 When the M.C-C. team left for Australia there were many sanguine people who 
 prophesied that the deplorable withdrawals of well-known players notwithstanding, 
 ^ the Colonials would have to look after their laurels in the Test Matches. Unfortun- 
 ately, in this case, optimism was misplacedi and the champions of the Northern 
 Country are returning defeated but by no means disgraced. ^ Previously to bis depar- 
 ture as manager of the tour, Major Philip Trevor had promised to write an account 
 of all that happened, and Mr. Alston Rivers ha^ now issued the book at a popular 
 pricel Major Trevor is not only a consummate judge of all that concerns cricket, 
 , but is an exceptionally acute observer of all that goes on outside the actual game 
 and, though it is to be regretted that he has not brilliant victories to record, his 
 account of thie Englishmen's Antipodean experiences are sure to be extremely 
 interesting. 
 
 G- K. C. ANON. 6s. 
 
 To the uninitiated it must be explained that the title is composed of the three 
 letters with which the Christian names and siurname of Mr. Gilbert Chesterton 
 coinipence, forming a nom de guerre of the first importance in literary circles. 
 Everybody knows how delightful a humour is Mr. Chesterton's, and probably no 
 iine will enjoy the sallies of his anonymous critic more than he himself. _ Perhaps, 
 hbweveri " critic " is hardly the word for the author of *' G. K. C. ' ; he is rather a 
 jester whose irrepressible hilarity is favoured by a fortunate thoice of his subject. 
 
The Spirit of Parliament. 
 
 DUNCAN SCHWANN, M.P, 3s. 6d, net- 
 
 "A great deal of the ver^ delightful reading in this little book must, of course* 
 be attributed to the always picturesque and lively style of the writer, who probably 
 has as keen an appreciation of the historical traditions of Parliament as he has of its 
 everyday work of debate and occasional law-making. ... A delightful volume, and 
 no one need be politically inclined to thoroughly enjoy it." — Daily Grafhic.^ 
 
 " Not onl^ gives us a picture of the House that is vivid and ^aphic in itself, 
 but also, and in part unconsciously^ a plainly genuine account of its psychological 
 effect upon Its own metnbers, especially as experienced by the newcomers in 1906. 
 It is here that Mr. Schwann is at his best."— Morning Leader. 
 
 " Mr. Schwann has written a voluAie which vn\l enhance a most promising 
 
 s^veputation. He has literary grace and charm ; he thinks ; he is an idealist ; he is a 
 
 choice scholar; and he has a saving grace of humour," — Manchester City New;s. 
 
 "There is no finer passage in Mr. Schwann's book than that in whichhe 
 describes with vivid realistic power, but without mentioning names, the gathering 
 passion engendered by a great debate." — Liverpool Daily Post. 
 
 , " What is the spirit of Parliament? That is the question which Mr. Duncan 
 Schwann, M.P,, worthy son of a worthy father, sets out to answer in a book of 
 singular grace and charm. . . . No looker-on can quite realise the actusil stress and 
 storm of the struggle itself— the ridiculous vehemence of feeling, the absurd agony of 
 soul, which must often rack the abtors in some great Parliamentary debate, Mr. 
 Duncan Schwann gives us some idea of it." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 "It is a pleasant, talky book, which freshly re-echoes the solemn reverberation 
 of Big Bea. "—Scotsman, 
 
 The Search for the Western Sea. 
 
 LAWRENCE J. BURPEE. 16s. net. 
 
 KJ:-' The Scotsman says : " In preparing this volume of six hundred pages he has 
 gone to original sources for his information, and this has entailed much trouble and 
 research. The result is satisfactorjr. A clear and consecutive picture is afforded of 
 a work of discovery, prosecuted during more than two centuries by men of Frencli 
 and British blood.' 
 
 The Daily Mail says: "The story of the long search for the Western Sea, 
 and of the brave and hardy men who conducted it, is well told by Mr. Lawrence J. 
 Burpee jn the big hook he has wntten. The volume is of great interest, not only to 
 the geographer, but to anyone vho likes to read of true adventures." 
 
 The Publisher's Circular says : "Original documents form the baas of this 
 remarkable and important work, and in chiel those preserved in the Canadian 
 Archives at Ottawa. A satisfactory survey of the exploration of N.W. America has 
 not really existed until_ the publication of this book. This story Is full of human 
 interest. . . . The illustrations are good, .so also the maps, the index, and the 
 valuable bibliography of works dealing with the exploration of N.W. America- 
 altogether the book is a model." 
 
 Psyche, illustrated. 3s, gd. 
 
 Louis Couperus is a Dutch author, and he has written the most delightful work 
 entitled " Psyche." Such a literary gem baffles description, for there has never been 
 a book quite like it. The ennobling qualities of " Psyche" should assuredly not be 
 overlooked by clerg3mien, schoolmasters and others whose concern it is, in a material- 
 isnc age, to guide youth into the proper paths; for behind the graceful imagery of 
 Psyche is a moral which no sermon which was evei written could convey 
 Ms. Alston Rivers is publishing the work, translated by the Rev. B. S. Berrinuton 
 and illustrated by Dion Clayton Calthrop, towards the end of July ' 
 
The Citizen Books. Edited by w. beaoh 
 
 THOMAS. Is. net each. 
 
 The first of the Citizen Books series was " To-day in Greater Britain," andeverj' 
 review that has appeared so far has been enthusiasuc in praise of its lucidity and 
 sound sense. Following up this success, a second volume^ to be. quickly followed by 
 more, has just been published. It is entitled " The Face of England," and the 
 author, Mr. A. K. Collett, has thoroughly entered into the spirit of the senes which 
 is intended to supply " guide>books to the present." The scope of this useful little 
 book can best be gauged by the titles of the eleven chapters : The Outline of 
 Britain ; The Surface of Britain ; The Rainfall and the Rocks ; Soil and Industries ; 
 Agriculture; Moors, Fens and Forests; Climate; Roads, Canals and Railways; 
 Tides and Harbours ; Sea Routes and Fisheries ; Landscape and Language. 
 
 The whole series is planned with a view to use in schools^ the information being 
 conveyed in the plainest way possible, and extreme care being taken to m^e the 
 matter readable ; the books themselves are strongly bound in cloth, and the price, 
 one shilling each, Is decidedly moderate. 
 
 Thou^, of course, polemical matter could hardly be introduced into " The Face 
 of England ' (though it is wonderful how it can insinuate itself), there are other 
 volumes such as " The Civic Life" (to be published shortly) where Uie greatest care 
 has to be exercised. That no political bias of any kind will be introduced should be 
 vouched for by the editorship of the series being in the experienced hands of Mr. 
 W. Beach Thomas. 
 
 The New Transvaal, miss m. c bruce. 
 
 Cloth, Is. 6cl. net. Paper, Is. net, 
 " One of the best books on South Africa we have had for a long time. It is 
 priced at a shilling only, but it has more stuffing in it than half the pretentious 
 expensive books which have been manufactured about the sub-Continent. The 
 authoress is one who knows. That is apparent on every page. The book is full of 
 common sense ... we congratulate Miss Bruce on her clever work." 
 
 This is what " South Africa " has tosay about a litde book, which Mr. Alston 
 Rivershas just published, written by Miss M. C. Bruce and entitled "The New 
 Transvaal. It was high time that the ignorance and apathy of the English at 
 home as to South Africa was dispelled, and only qtute recently certain revelations 
 have shed further light on the subject. Without being by any means a partisan, 
 Miss Bruce has much to say about the Chinese Labour question ; she speaks from 
 her own personal observation. Her descriptions of the country and methods of life 
 are extraordinarily interesting. 
 
 Though " The New Transvaal " is published in paper covers at one shilling net, 
 it is obtainable at eighteenpence, tastefully bound in cloth. 
 
 Water: Its Orig^in and Use. 
 
 W. COLES- FINCH, Engineer of the Chatham Water- 
 works, 2l8< net. 
 
 Mr. Coles Finch's book should prove to be the standaxd popular work on the 
 element with which it deals. Though written by an expert, '' Water : Its Origin 
 and Use," is not a purely scientific book j it is, as the author remarks in his Preface, 
 ' ' simply an ordinary person s interpretation of what he sees in Nature and represents 
 his best efforts to describe the same." 
 
 How successful have been these efforts is attested by the warm eulogies of 
 many eminent scientists to whom advance copies have been submitted. 
 
 An attractive volume, embellished by many beautiful illustrations, including 
 Alpine scenes from photographs taken by Mrs. Aubrey le Blond, who has achieved 
 wide renown in this branch of art. 
 
 France in the Twentieth Century. 
 
 , By thie Author of " Engines of Social Progress," W. L. 
 GEORGE. 6s.net. 
 
 Mr. George, whose previous work was extremely well received, has undertaken a 
 somewhat anHutious task, but the ^pearance of a book on modern France is most 
 timely, and, even if less skilfully treated, a work of the kind would attract wide 
 attention. "France in the Twentieth Century," howevery-is certain to prove much 
 more than a book of the passing hour, for ndt only is it inteBigently written, but it 
 shows a thorough grasp of the subject. Every chapter is of valUCj and the fact tqat 
 the author was educated in France, and actually served his time m the- French 
 Army, giv» additional interest to a handsome volume. 
 
 6 
 
Goethe's "Faust" Translated in 
 
 Verse. SIR GEORGE BUCHANA!4,C.B.,K.C.V.O. 
 
 Post 8vo, cloth, gilt, 2s. 6d. net, Leather, 3s. 6cl. net. 
 The Diplomatic Service, exacting though its duties may be, gives opportunities 
 of a study of European literature that rarely falls to others. Though there have 
 teen other translations of "Faust" in prose or verse, Sir George Buchanan's 
 rendering shows fine insight, and such an appreciation of the German poet's ideas 
 as few scholars evince. Only the first part of Goetlie's masterpiece is transbted, 
 the second part being described in a note by the author. 
 
 Mr. Meyer's Pupil. By eva lathbury. second 
 
 Impression. * 6s> 
 
 Ever since the foundatioa of the publishing house of Alston Rivers; a persistent 
 endeavour has been made to discover new authors, and to appreciate how successful 
 has been the quest a mere glance at the firm's pubUcatiotis will suffice. In intro- 
 ducing Miss Eva Lathbury to readers of fiction, the publisher can but hope that he is 
 not too sanguine in anticipatiug that the author's lively wit and whimsical outlook 
 on tbe lifeof the leistured classes will meet with the reception which^ in bis o_pinionj 
 it deserves. The author's style should at least escape the charge of being derivative. 
 The volume is rendered still more attractive by means of a coloured frontispiet^ by 
 Mr. R. Pannett. 
 
 The Adventures of Count O'Connor. 
 
 By Henry Stage. 6s- 
 
 A new novel writer of exceptional proniise i^ always interesting, but when he 
 makes his bow equipped with a story that is absolutely fresh, his chances of success 
 are all the greater, In "The Adventures of Count O'Connor" at the Court 
 of the Great Mogul, the author :feas found a theme exactly fitted to his delightful 
 humour and vivacity. No historian has ever furnished a more convincing idea of the 
 •rafty Aurungzebe and his egregious court. The escapades of the hero, as the self- 
 dubbed Irish " Count " may worthily be styled, are of the most extraordinary descrip- 
 tion, and are recounted so racily, that the reader can barely pause to question his 
 veracity. The "Count's '■ journey from Agra to Surat is packed with incident, and 
 though gruesome events are chronicled, the writer's innate lightheartedness com- 
 pletely divests them of horror. 
 
 The Lord of Latimer Street. By jane Wardle. 
 
 Author of" The Artistic Temperament." 6s. 
 
 In the early months otlastyear Miss Wardle's first book ma(lg a sensation both 
 in the literary circles and vfitn the general public, it being a matter of common 
 wonder how such a young lady, as she was understood to be, ooiild have such a 
 grasp of the artistic, commercial, and suburban worlds. That Miss Wardle would 
 be heard of again was prophesied by more than one critic, and there seems every 
 prospect of "The Lordof Latimer Street" going far to substantiate her claim to 
 lecognition as a writer of marked originality. As may be conjectured from the title. 
 Miss Wardle's new book Is concerned with characters of more lofty station than 
 was the type depicted in " The Artistic Temperament." The same whimsical 
 bumour, however, pervades the story, which, it is to be hoped, is sufficiently 
 characteristic of the author to allay any suspicion on the part of critics as to a 
 concealment of identity. 
 
 The Meddler. By H. de Veke Stacpoole and AV. A. 
 Bryce. With 8 illustrations and frontispiece. 6s 
 
 Those who affect the Hghter side of literature have never been in such need ol 
 
 - . "P'y. , The publication of "The Meddler "is at least one step in the 
 
 right du-ectlon ; it is full of fun of the lightest, healthiest sort. The ar&t too 
 has entered thoroughly into the spirit of a book which goes with a merry swine from 
 start to Hnish. _- j t> 
 
Furze the Cruel- By John Trevena. Author of 
 " Arminel of the West," etc. Third Impression. BSm 
 
 Mr. John Trevena's rise to a high position among West Country novelists has 
 been rapid ipdeed. If "A Pixy in Petticoats " revealed a talent for romance, com- 
 bined with the nicest vein of rustic humour, " Arminel of the West " proved that the 
 author was fully equal to the task of writing a really powerful novel. In his latest 
 work he has advanced still farther, for there has been no more artistic re[)Te9entation 
 of the men and women, far from simple in many respects^ yet in others primitive to a 
 degree, who dwell in the heart of Devon. When a district possesses cluroaiclers like 
 Mr. Trevena, it is easy to explain why holiday makers are year by year evincing a 
 disposition to leave the beaten tracks in their rambles. 
 
 The Turn of the Balance. By brand whitlock. 
 
 6S« 
 
 Though it is true that many novels that have had a huge vogue in America 
 meet with a comparatively frigid reception on this side of the Atlantic, it is equally 
 true that when once an American book hits the British taste, the impression it leaves 
 is far more lasting than that of the average run of publications. "The Turn of 
 the Balance " is the work of a realist who, perhaps inspired originally by the arch- 
 realist. Mr. Howett, has attained a realism that places him in a position «itirely his 
 own. '' 'The Turn of the Balance/ " says Mr. Upton Sinclair, author of "The Jungle," 
 " is an extraordinary piece of work. It is as true as life itself, and yet irresistible la 
 its grip upon the reader. I know nothing with which to compare it, except Tolstoy's 
 ' Resurrection.' " 
 
 The title gives a ready clue to the purpose of the book. " The Turn of the 
 Balance " is a searching and sweeping arraignment of American modes of ^minister- 
 ing justice. The indictment is set forth in detail and particularity ao^aired through 
 years of living at first-hand contact with the sufierers from man's inhumanity to 
 man. The law itself is put on trial here, and all who reach from under the law's 
 mantle black hands to crush their fellows with injustice. 
 
 The Rainy Day. , Tales from the Great City. By the 
 Author of "A London Girl," etc. Second impression. 
 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 The anonymous author of Tales from .the Great City has already attained to 
 high repute by means of " A London Girl *' and "Closed Doors," in lioth of which 
 his unrelenting pen exposed the depths of nusery that underlie the so-called " Life 
 6f Pleasure." ^ his latest work, " The Rainy Day," the author turns his attention 
 to the middle-class suburb as it existed in the eighties of last century, before the 
 local idea was completely absorbed by the spirit of metropolitanism. To the novel 
 reader who demands a good story, and to the student of^ social phenomena, "The 
 R^ny Day " can be recommended with equal confidence. 
 
 The Glen o' Weeping*. By Marjorie bowen. 
 
 Fourth impression. 6s. 
 
 " Is a great improvement upon 'The Viper of Milan,' with which Miss Marjorie 
 Bowen suddenly conquered a position for herself last year. The writer is on firm 
 ground. It is our own history that she is playing with, and it is handled with far 
 more confidence and power of conviction than a seasoned reader found in her Italian 
 feast of bloodshed." — Outlook. 
 
 ".Such a novel as this might be placed not very far from those in which the 
 Master of Historical Romance made such admirable use of Scottish history." — 
 , Scotsman. - 
 
 " Should serve to maintain the popularity, while it increases the reputation, of 
 the author."— Tribune. 
 
 " The only thing to be said about ' The Viper of Milan ' ,and its brilliantly 
 successful successor, "The Glen o' Weeping,' is that they carry one completely away. 
 There is in this second novel every fine quality of its predecessor. It is an entire and 
 complete success. " — Morning Leader. 
 
 ^' As we began by saying. Miss Bowen has an assured future, and is something 
 of a.wonder." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " Thcauthor has a sense of style and a fertile imagination.'' — Athbnaum, 
 
 s 
 
ExtOn MSinor. By Archibald Marshall, Author of 
 ** Richard Baldock," etc. Fourth impression. 6s« 
 
 " Better than any of its predecessors. . , . Captain Thomas Turaer might well 
 say of it— could he read a story of which he is a delightful part—' That's a capital 
 one I ' " — Dailv Telegraph. , - . 
 
 " Few writers of the day have the power of Mr, Matshall to enchain interest 
 and yet to disregard conventional devices." — Bystander." 
 
 " Will be rpad with pleasure from the first page to the last— and leave the reader 
 still asking for more."— Tribune. , . 
 
 " By far the best thing he has done. A novel which is not merely entertaining, 
 but sane, wholesome and excellently observed— qualities by no means invarip-bly 
 found combined in modern fiction."— Punch, 
 
 Privy Seal. By Ford Madox Hueffer. Author of "The 
 ^:^ Fifth Queen," etc. 6s. 
 
 '" Privy Seal ' is written with the same happy valiancy of language which made 
 • The Fifth Queen ' so admirable, and the plan of the book is masterly. If you do 
 not read Mr. Huefifer's book you will miss a rare enjoyment."— Evening News. ^ 
 
 "As for the desperate political intrigues, the by-plot, the fighting, the books 
 whole body and action, it is admirably done," — Daily News. 
 
 World Without End. By Winifred Graham. Author 
 of " The Vision at the Savoy," etc. 6s. 
 
 " One of those books that haunt I ' World Without End ' has aheady attracted 
 interest in high places. The incuraion of an intrepid Englishman into the forbidden 
 Shrine of Mashad is one of the most amazing tales which a novelist has had to tell. 
 The Eastern scenes are altogether admirable, ' World Without End ' is the author's 
 best work." — World, 
 
 The Amateur Emigrants. By thos. Cqbb. es. 
 
 " Mr. Cobb has worked a capital idea into his new novel, which is exceptionally 
 bright and amusing." — Standard. 
 
 Arminel of the West. By John Trevena. Author 
 of " A Pixy in Petticoats." 6s. 
 
 " The author made an artistic success of his " Pixy in Petticoats," but this book 
 is even bettier. . . . We cordially wish more power to Mr. Trevena's elbow, and more 
 books from his pen." — Field. 
 
 " Arminel reminds one of that former pixy in her teasing, affectionate, plaguey - 
 ways."— Daily Mail. 
 
 "I have read with great delight the second volume of the author of 'A Pixy 
 in Petticoats,' whose name, now divul^^ed, is John Trevena. To be fresh and 
 unconventional, and yet to have Devonshire as your locale^ is a notable feat, and in 
 ' Arminel of the West ' Mr. Trevena does this thing." — Bystander. 
 
 " Mr. Trevena has given us a strong piece of work, marked at once by 
 observation and fancy.^'— Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " The novel is of great promise, and will delight many readers." — Tribune. 
 
 "Wander withd^nty Arminel through Devonshire lanes. You will end by 
 loving her as we did."— Daily Chronicle. 
 
 "The charm of the whole is that it displays the spirit of the moorland."— 
 Athenaum. 
 
 The Artistic Temperament. By Jane wardle. 
 
 6s. 
 
 " Whoever Miss Jane Wardle may be, he or she has given us a really diverting 
 story, the forerunner, wehope, of many others.!' — Daily Tblegraph. 
 
 " It is most mysterious suddenly to find a novel by an unknown woman, which 
 appeals to one instantly a.s a very faithful picture of the very people one sits next to 
 on the tops of omnibuses, dines with -occasionally in suburban drawing-rooms, and 
 meets at one's own special brand of club or studio." — Tribune. 
 
 "There is mudi good-natured satire and lively reading at the expense of 
 Suburbia."— Morning Post. 
 
 "Itissafe to prophesy that Miss Wardle willbe heard of again."— Daily Mail, 
 
A Bunch of Blue Ribbons. By Geo. morley. 
 
 6s. 
 
 "Mr> George Morley has long since established a lasting claim upon all who are 
 lovers of, ar dwellers in, Warwickshire."— Birmingham Daily Mail, 
 
 " It >s probably safe to sa^ that no other writer could have charged a story so full 
 of the authentic and recognisable atmosphere of Warwickshire village life." — 
 BiRMiNGHAu Daily Post. 
 
 *' We can commend Mr. Morley's rural story on many counts, and we do." 
 —Daily Mail. 
 
 " This is a capital book to peruse among the woods and fields ; the peasants talk 
 very amu^ngly, and the scenery is well described." — Globe. 
 
 The Viper of Mila,n. nth impression. Marjorie 
 
 BowEN. 6s. 
 
 " Miss Bowen is to be congratulated upon entering the tanks of our 6ctionists 
 with so strong a piece of work ; a story for which a wide popularity may confidently 
 be predicted. "- Tblegraph. 
 
 A Pixy in Petticoats. John trevena. 6s. 
 
 ' '* ' A Pixy in Petticoats ' is as good a story of Dartmoor as has been written these 
 many moons. ' — Evening Standard. 
 
 *' A ghinee at any chapter is almost as good as a breath of that breeze which 
 charges at you on the top of Hay or Yes Tor?' — ^Bystander. 
 
 COiiUSiOn. Thomas Cobb. 6s. 
 
 " ' Collusion * has all the brightness and cleverness which might be expected of 
 the author of ' Mrs. Erricker's Reputation.' " — Observbr. 
 
 Meriel of the iVloors. r. e. verneoe. gs. 
 
 The author's first essay in fiction, "The Pursuit of Mr. Faviel," was universally 
 commended for its sparkling wit. Though " Meriel of the Moors" is more in the 
 narrative style and brbtling with excitement, the lightness of touch remains. Mr. 
 Verncde's career as an author should be assured by his latest novel. 
 
 The Ivory Raiders. Walter dalby. 6s. 
 
 " Mr. Dalbys enthralling pages, of whose lively colour, indubitably the result of 
 a rare combination of first-hand experience and innate literary talent, no adequate 
 notion can be given within the limits of a review." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 iVIrs. Erricker's Reputation, thohas cobb. 6s. 
 
 " We can safely predict that Mr. Cobb's latest novel will be one of the hits of the 
 present 5eason."—XivEEP00L Courier. 
 
 The Fi'fth Queen. Ford madox hceffer. 6s. 
 
 ^ "It is an ambitious theme which Mr.' Hueffer has taken, and we have 
 NOTHING BUT CONGRATULATION for him on the resultant achievement ; 
 this book further strengthens his position as ONE OF THE ABLEST OF THE 
 YOUNGER WRITERS OF THE DAY."— Daily Telecrath. 
 
 Richard BaidOCk. Archibald Marshall. 6s. 
 
 " Unlike nearly all other novelists who appeal to the many, his work has 
 qualities which commend it no less warmly to the few. The story of little Richard 
 Baldock migbt almost have been written by the author of ' David Copperfield.' " — 
 Mr. Hauilton Fvfe in the Evening News. 
 
 The IHOUSe of ^errllees. Archibald Marshall. 
 
 6s. 
 
 " It is a pleasure to praise a book of this kind, and rare to find one in which a 
 narrative of absorbing interest is combined mth so many literary graces." — Bookman. 
 
 "The best mystery novel since Sir A. Conan Doyle's " Sign of Four.' " — Daily 
 Grathic. 
 
 '' Can recommend cordially and with confidence to those who like a really good 
 story, well constructed and excellently told." — Punch. 
 
 10 
 
The Pursuit of Mr. Faviei. r. e. vernede. 6s. 
 
 " Mr. VernMe is able, by his cleverness and wit, to keep up the interest of this 
 chase from start to finish. He writes with just that light touch that is neceffiary. 
 . . . This most amusing, well-written book ends exactly as such a book should 
 end— with a gasp and a laugh and a desire to read another story by Mr. VernSde. -:■ 
 
 ACACBUY. 
 
 As Dust In the Balance, mks. h. h. pentose. 
 
 6s. 
 
 " Herwork is a hundred times more genuine, more moving, stronger than most 
 of that which wins a ready hearing, ' As Dust in the Balance ' is a novel remarkable 
 no less for finish than for strength. —Mokning Leader. , 
 
 The Unequal Yoke. Mrs. H. H. Penrose. 6s. 
 
 " Mrs. H. H. Penrose, who is one of the women novelists to be taken into serious 
 account, has not written anything better worth reading thah 'The Unequal 
 Yoke.' . . . Mrs. Penrose is a bold thinker and a strong writer."— World, 
 
 The Tower of Slloam. mrs. henry graham. 6s. 
 
 " This extremely readable and well-contrived novel should secure for its authoress 
 a recognised position amongst the pleasantest of our writers of light fiction."— Dailv 
 'TsLEGRAru. 
 
 Hugh Rendal : a Public Schooi story. Lionel 
 
 Portman. 6s. 
 
 " I really do think this book of Mr. Portman's maybe quite fairly compared with 
 the greatest school story ever written. ... It sets before us lM>th the merits and the 
 faults of the public school system."— Mr. Hauiltoh Fv?e in the Evbhihg News. 
 
 in Desert Keeping^, edmdnd mitcheli.. 6s. 
 
 " A sincere and successful novel." — ^Times. 
 
 " Full of exciting incident, but the fine character drawing saves it from the 
 charge of sensationalism." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 Peace on Earth. Reginald Turner. 6s. 
 
 "The thorough originality, both in plot and treatment, of Mr. Turner's novel is 
 its principal merit. ... A thoroughly fresh piece of work and a novel of marked 
 power. It gives Mr. Turner a firm position." — Vanity Fair. 
 
 The Countermine, arthdr wenlock. 6s. 
 
 " Surely few more commendatory things can be said of any novel than may fairly 
 be said of this one — that it makes you read whether you will or no. "-Scotsman. 
 
 A Captain of Men. e. anson more. ss. 
 
 " The stop; is exceedingly well written, and the characters are worked out with 
 consummate skill. The style of the book makes it doubly'interesting and enjoyable.'^ 
 — Dundee CouRXBR. 
 
 The Friendships of Veronica, thomas coeb. 
 
 , . 6s. 
 
 ' It IS pleasant to be able to say that his latest work is a great improvement on its 
 immediate predecessors." — Spectator. 
 
 Kit's Woman. By Mrs. Havelock Ellis. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " I cannot speak too highly of Mrs. Havelock EUb's latest sketch of Cornish 
 village hfe, 'Kit's Woman.' In its way, this is a little work of genius."— 
 Bystander. 
 
 " As a character study of interesting types the book is an unqualified success." 
 
 Outlook. 
 
 " Mrs. Ellis's book is one of the finest things we have recently met with."— 
 Western Daily Mercury. 
 
My Cornish Neigrhbours. jvirs. Havelock 
 
 Ellis. 3s. 6cI. 
 
 " This charming and characteristic volume of stories not only enhances Mrs. 
 Ellis's already established reputatioh as a finished artist in the most difficult depart- 
 ment of fiction, but it confirms her right to regard Cornwall as peculiarly her own 
 province."— Glasgow Herald. 
 
 Closed Doors. Tales from the Great city. By the Author 
 of ** A London GirL" 3S. 6d. 
 
 By his previous work the author at once established a reputation for dealing with 
 the under-side of London life. "Closed Doors" is a social study of a still more 
 subtle type, and the intimate knowledge of men and things which the book reveals 
 cannot fail to increase interest in the series. 
 
 A London Girl. Tales from the Great CUy, Anon. 
 
 3s. 6cl. 
 
 " Certain it is that the author of this pitiless tale is neither ordinary nor inex- 
 - perienced. ' Baby ' is a great creation. She leaps from the printed page into lovely 
 merry life, and all through she exercises a spell over one." — Dundeb Advertiser. 
 
 In Life's Byways. C. S. Bradford. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "They_ are tales of Stirling incident, well worth relating, and their author has 
 Succeeded in the difficult task of Jceeping them free from all glamour and unreality." 
 —Bookman. - 
 
 Gift Books. 
 
 Sarah the Valiant. By Theodora Wilson Wilson. 
 Author of " The Magic Jujubes," *• A Navvy from King's/* 
 etc. With 8 illustrations. 3S. 6Cl. 
 
 The Truant Five- By Raymond Jacberns. Author of 
 *' The New Pupil," etc. With 6 illustrations. 3s. 6d. 
 
 There is no present that is more acceptable to a girl than a nice book ; yet how 
 difficult it is to find exacdy the right thing t There are, of course, dozens of books 
 published every autiunn tiiat are harmless enough, ana will, very possibly, afford 
 a certain amount of pleasure for the moment to the average young lady — but the . 
 perfect book for girls must have so many qualities, mostly negative, no doubt, but 
 some positive as well. The perfect girl's book should not contain any mention of 
 " tBngs " (as Mr; Ford Madox Hueffer would say). Well, there are plenty that do 
 not, but where such books fall short of {perfection is that " grown-ups •' nnd them 
 dreadfull}^ tedious to read aloud in the famijiy circle. That is what is wanted ; a book 
 that will interest and amuse everybody ; if it comes up to that requirement it is 
 certain to interest and amuse girls. 
 
 _ Here are two books that everybody will like : " Sarah the Valiant, -' by Theodora 
 Wilson Wilson, is full of entertainment ; the characters all live, and though pathos is 
 never obtruded, the story is full of the tenderness of which the author has already 
 ^bwn herself to be possessed in " The Magi(5 Jujubes." Raymohd Jacberns's " The 
 Truant^ Fiv& " is equally certain to please. So graphically are the young people's 
 wanderings described, that the staidest of aunts must feel the vagabond spirit thrill 
 within her, though the common-sense denouement of the story can be relied on as 
 an infallible moral antidote. Both books are beautifully illustrated, and the titles are 
 worth remembering ; " Sarah the Valiant " and " The Truant Five." 
 
 12 
 
General £itcramre> 
 
 The Book of Living Poets. Edited by Walter 
 
 Jerrold. Crown 8vo, 7S- 6cl. net. 
 
 It has teen the fashion in literary circles of late to aver that modern poetry 
 suffers neglect at the hand of the publisher. That contemporary verse is notalto-i 
 gethei unpatronised, however. Mr. Alston Rivers has already proved by the series of 
 little volumes, all the work «f living authors, that he has issued recently with success. 
 liat effort is now being followed up by a chaiming volume of upwards of 400 pages, 
 beautifully bound and printed, entitled, "Tne Book of Living Poets." Every con- 
 temporary poet of distinction, from whose pen verse has been recently published^, is 
 represented ; to name only a few, Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, 
 and Alfred Noyes. 
 
 The Spirit of tiie People. By Ford madox 
 
 HuEFFER. . 5s. net, 
 
 Mr, Ford Madox Hueffer has been aptly described by a well-known critic as one 
 of the most interesting figures among present-day writers. Whether as a poet or as a 
 writer of historical romance, he has always commanded respect, and the appearance 
 of a new work in either direcdon is regarded as a literary event. It was, however, .with 
 "The Soul of London" and its companion volume, " The Heart of the Country," 
 that the critics' pens were at. their busiest, and in his advertisement to the latter book 
 the author made it known that a third "small projection of a view of modern life" 
 might shortly be expected. This promise is now to be redeemed by the imminent 
 publication of " The Spirit of the People." 
 
 To vaunt the new and concluding volume of.the series as more charming than its 
 predecessors v/ould be as absurd as it would be disingenuous. It may, however, be 
 mentioned that the value of " The Spirit of the People " is peculiar. Engl^id, both 
 as regards life in the metropolis and rural districts, has been subjected to the con- 
 siderations of writers of almost every nationality. The English spirit has been 
 diagnosed and analysed often enough. What makes Mr. Hueiffer's new book so 
 interesting is that it is written by an Englishman in one sense ; yet, in another sense, 
 scarcely an Englishman. The author's training has not been that of the average 
 youth of the Established Church ; yet the book is instinct with reverence and 
 affection for that Church. Unquestionably the 'reader will find the many pages 
 devoted to the religious aspect of the English spirit highly instructive ; though, in 
 lighter vein, when dealing with Englishmen's sense of the proprieties, of their 
 devotion to sports, and their hundred other peculiarities, the author is no less engaging. 
 From these remarks it will be judged that "The Spirit of the People" makes a wide 
 appeal ; its genial bonhomie and tolerance should ensure a favourable hearing. 
 
 ThOITlj^S Hood: Has Life and Times. By Walter 
 Jerrold. Illustrated. Demy 8vo. 16s.net. 
 
 Though over Mxty years have now elapsed since the death of Thomas Hood, it 
 is not a little strange that only one attempt has been made to tell the story of his life 
 with any fulness. The fate of his contemporaries, and indeed many successors, has 
 not been Thomas Hood's l he is still regarded as a writer of comic verse that is above 
 all competitors ; his share in the history of modern letters cannot be minimised ; and 
 his personality was unusualli^ attractive and lovable. Yet the " Memorials of 
 Thomas Hood," prepared by his son and daughter, and .published in i860, re-issued 
 ten years later^ with some excisions and with but few new features, is the only 
 sustained chronicle to which hitherto the enquirer has been able to resort. Even in 
 the later edition the_ first thirty-five years of Hood's short life were dismissed in sixty- 
 seven pages, as against 400 pages devoted to his last eleven years, while much that is 
 inaccurate is to be noticed throughout those eai-ller pages. It was, therefore, a.duty 
 incumbent upon the Republic of Letters that some one, well equipped, should take 
 up the task of writing a complete biography ; that Mr. Walter Jerrold was well 
 qualified for the undertaking has already been made sufficiently evident. The 
 book is beautifully produced, with suitable illustrations, including coloured plates 
 and a photogravure plate. . "J ^ ^ 
 
 _ " That a grandson of Douglas Jerrold should write a ' Life ' of Thomas Hood 
 is, in the nature of things, eminently fitting and commendable; everyone who is 
 conservative enough to enjoy the perpetuation of old associations will appreciate 
 the propriety. And all those who like to see good sound work properly recognised 
 will be^ glad that Mr. Walter Jerrold should have been given this opportunity of 
 publishing what will certainly remain to be regarded as the best-informed, most 
 painstaking, and most accurate biography of Hood — thfc book to be consulted upon 
 all questions of fact and date." — T/ie Bookvian. 
 
 13 
 
The Chase of the Wild Red Deer. By 
 
 Charles Palk Collyns. With coloured frontispiece. 
 
 5S. net. 
 
 A new^edition of Dr. Collyns' classic needs no apology, for the time has surely 
 come when the book should be published at a price t&ax enables all lovers of sporting 
 literature to number it among their 'possessions. The present volume includes a 
 preface by the Hon. L. J. Bathurst, and a coloured frontispiece by Mr. Stuart. 
 
 A Guide to the Foxhounds and Stag- 
 hounds of England. Being a new edition of the 
 original book by " Gelert," published 1849. Demy 8vo. 
 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 In thesti days of direc^ries, there is no branch of sport which has not a complete ' 
 reference boolc of its own. In 1849 the hunting world was quite unrepresented in 
 this respect, and the publisher ventures to think that " Gelert's " attemi>t to supply 
 the deficiency may he interesting enough to justify the issue of a new edition. The 
 hook is accompanied by an introductory chapter containing cert^ comments on the 
 text, and comparisons with the present conditions of the hunting world. 
 
 The Human Harvest. By d. s. Jordan. 2s.net, 
 
 As may be gathered from the tide, the author in this book examines the question 
 of military selection and its effect on the human race. 1 It is not a long book, but,it is 
 so full of shrewd common sense th^t on laying downi the volume tbereader will have 
 acquired more food for meditation than many a work of hundreds of closely printed 
 pages could supply. 
 
 The Siegre of the iSiorth Pole. dr. fridtjop 
 
 Nansen. In preparation. 16s. net. 
 
 The Contemporary Poets Series, imp. 
 
 i6mo. Is- each net. 
 
 A Ballad of Victory, and other Poems. By 
 
 DoLLiE Radford. 
 
 From Inland, and other Poems. ByFoRoMADox 
 
 HueFfer. 
 Democratic Sonnets. W. M. Rossetti {2 vols.). 
 Repose, and Other Verses, j. Marjoram. 
 
 The Soul's Destroyer, and Other Poems. 
 
 William H. Davies. 
 
 Sealed Orders, and Other Poenrts. Walter 
 Herries Pollock. 
 
 The theory of the Editor and publishers of _this series is that, whilst to-day there 
 exist a large body' of excellei^t poets and a fairly considerable body of intelligent, 
 readers of poetry, there has not, of late years, been any very serious atten^t made to 
 bringthe one into contact with the other. Hence an attempt to bring together a 
 .' collection of small — as it were — samples of the works of poets of the mpst varied de- 
 sertion, ranging from the simple lyric to the definitely j)olitical or the mere vers di 
 socUti, published in the cheapest possible manner that is consonant with a dignified 
 -appearance and asufficientamount of advertisement to bring the venture before the 
 - notice of the Public. 
 
 14 
 
Ten Years of Locomotive Progress. By 
 
 George Montagu. Demy 8vo. 50 illustrations. 6s. net. 
 
 "Mr. Montagu has happilycqmbined a good deal of useful technical.knowledge 
 with his popular treatment of the subject, and we congratulate him on a timely book 
 which wUl serve to remind the public of what we owe to railway engmeers- It has 
 numerous illustrations of all the locomotive types."— Says The Spectator. 
 
 " On such a subject as this it is not easy to write for the general reader without 
 bewildering hitn in places with technicalities, but the author has achieved his aim of 
 producing a popular semi- technical work describing a remarkable movement.' — 
 
 Says Mr. H. G. Archer in The Tribune. 
 
 The Soul of London. By Ford Madox Hueffer. 
 
 Imp. i6mo. 5s- net. 
 
 " It is long since we came across a more attractive collection of essays on any 
 subject, and the author is to be heartily congratulated on his success." — The 
 Morning Post. 
 
 ■"The Soul of London,' published to-day, is the latest and truest image of 
 London, built up out of a sepies of brilliant negations that together are more 
 hauntingly near to a compoate picture of the city than anything we have ever seen 
 before. . . .'^— The Bailv Mail. 
 
 "Londoners should read this book ; and even more certainly should countrymen 
 and denizens of provincial cities read it." — The Standard. 
 
 "There have been many books on London, written by litereory menj statis- 
 ticians, reformers. But no one has achieved or attei^ted what in this book 
 Mr. Hueffer has done with power and fine insight.:'— The Daily News. 
 
 The New Sketch Book. Being Essays now first 
 collected from the Foreign Quarterly^ and edited with an 
 Introduction by Robert S. Garnett. Demy 8vo. 
 
 7s. 6cl. net. , 
 
 The undoubted authenticity of " The New Sketch Book" has been conceded by 
 every critic whose expert knowledge makes his judgment, of value. Mr. W. L* , 
 Courtney, in the Daily Telegraph, says :— " The world is to be heartily con- 
 gratulated on having obtained the opportunity, which Mr. Garnett's editorial care 
 has given it, of REAPING NEW SPECIMKNS OF THACKERAY'S LIGHT 
 WIT, RAPIER-LIKE DEXTERITY, AND CURIOUSLY INDIVIDUAL 
 STYLE." "No true admirer of the larger Thackeray,'' says Mr. Walter Jerrold 
 in The Teibonh, " but will welcome this book, and wish to turn to it himself and 
 read the essay now identified with the honoured name.". "The publication of the 
 book is beyond all cavil justified" (Daily Chronicle). ''Mr. Garnett's editorial 
 introduction is admirable, and for his labours we have nothing but praise " (Times). 
 ' " We must congratulate Mr. Robert Gametfc on a discovery which it is surprising 
 "" . that.no one had made before, and on the sound critical introduction which he 
 prefixes to these delightful essays " (Academy). "Lovers of Thackeray need have 
 no hesitation in jilacing on their shelves, in company with the master's other writings 
 of the same fugitive order" (World). "Here is his New Sketch Book gatherra 
 together with inspired industry by Mr. R. S. Garnett. . . . Mr. Punch places it in 
 his archives with reverence." (Pokch). 
 
 SUNDAY MORNING TALKS TO THE CHILDREN. 
 
 Springr Blossoms and Summer Fruit. 
 
 John Byles. Crown 8vo. Cloth, gilt. Is. 6d, net. 
 
 The Legend of St. Mark. John Bylbs. crown 
 
 8vo. Cloth, gilt. 1s.6d.net. 
 
 " We can scarcely praise too highly the beauty and exquisite simplicity of these 
 talks."— LiTERAHV World. 
 
 "Each address -is a model of simple excellence, being brief, thoughtful, 
 attractive, and very much to the point."— Church Sonday School Magazine. 
 
 13 
 
The Heart of the Country. bvFordMadox 
 
 HtJEFFER. . Imp. i6ino. 1. ? • s*T.- „ Bs.net. 
 
 "Weliave had 'CoflWry' books of the most vatUl chatiicter, from that of 
 
 Gilbert White to those of Richard Jeffenes; but Mr. HueSer his taken a new and 
 
 , interesting line of his dwn, and his realjy beaiiiifiiLiworlc will assuredly jnake him 
 
 ,inai>y friends."— The Dailv Tbljbgrafr: ' ' ; / , ; i. , . 
 
 " '* There may be^severai opinions on the unity of ihe book ; there can only he 
 
 ' one, and that ENTHUSIASTICALLY ADMIRIKG about the parts of which it is 
 
 composed."— The World. Iir 
 
 "There are not many men writing English just now whs have the talent— or 
 will be at the pains— to turn out sentences and paragraphs so pleasing in texture 
 arii design as the sentences and paragraphs of Mr, Hiieffer , . . who is an 
 aqcbmplished artist in the handling of words."— Sunday Son. 
 
 The Small House: its Architecture and 
 
 Surroundings. Arthur MartIn. Crown 8vo. 
 
 Illustrated. 2S. net. 
 
 " • The small house ' within the meaning of the title-page is not exactly a work- 
 
 man's cottage. It is one designed for gentlefolk. How very charming and desirable 
 
 such a house may be mads is shown by some of the illustrations that accompany the 
 
 volume." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 The Turk in the Balkans, t. Comyn platt. 
 
 ' Illustrated. Ss. 6cl. 
 
 Abyssinia: The Ethiopian Railway and 
 
 ' the Powers. T. L. GiLMonR. Is. net. 
 
 Sugrgrestions for the Better GoverniniT 
 
 of India. Sir Frederick S. P. Lely, C.S.I., K.C.I.E. 
 
 Is. 6d. net. 
 
 The Story of Exploration Seriesm 
 
 A Complete History of the Discovery of the Globe froin 
 the Earliest Records up to the present time. Edited by 
 J. Scoti-Keltie, LL.D., SecJR.G.S. DemySvo. 
 
 , - Price, per Volume, 7S. 6d, net. 
 
 ' The reception which every item of " The Story of Escploration " has met with 
 at the hands of both the public and press is due to (he fact tliat while each story 
 is told in a manner likely to interest the general reader, it is at the same time sought 
 to provide the student with a serious and trustworthy history of exploration, and 
 ' with a summary of our knowledge of each region dealt with. A vast amount of 
 informadon is condensed within a comparatively small- compass, voluminous records 
 collated and the results brought together in a. concise and readable form. ' - - 
 
 Each volume of the series is complete and^inde^endent in itself, and is sold 
 separately. The bopks are, however, published in uniform style and binding;^ .and 
 , tiie entire series^^ when complete, will form what may be called' a biographical his^r^ v 
 of the exploration of the world. Beginning with the earliest journeys of whicni 
 'records exist, and carrying their narratives down to the most recent discoveries, the "^^ 
 several authors of the works that have so far appeared have told their allotted stories 
 fully and with the utmost historical accuracy. 
 
 ."■The motto of those responsible for, this invaluable series is *Thorough.' How 
 they are produced at this low price is a mystery to us." — War Office Times. 
 
 The Penetration of Arabia, d. g. hogarih, 
 
 M.A. With over Fifty Illustrations and Maps ; and also 
 two large Maps in Colour by L G. Bartholomew. 
 
 " It is a literary, scientiiic, and^ we may addj a political gain to be placed in 
 possession of a standard work desoibing the exploration of Arabia.'' — The Athen^sum. ~ 
 
 " Mr. Hogarth rises to true eloquence, and ^ speaics with freedom and mastery. '' 
 , There is strength and justice, moreover, in his Judgments of men. . It is the first 
 effective competitor that has appeared to Carl Hitter's discussion of Arabian ged- 
 jgraphy, now some fifty y«axs old." — ^The Times. - 
 
 * " A Summary — luminous and exact-^^of the' literature of travel in that part of the 
 world. ... A scholarly survey .of adventm'ous, though tardy, geographical 
 tes»arch.''—THE Standard. " ' 
 
 iG 
 
The SiOi*y of Expioration Se§^Ses s 
 
 The Siegre of the South Pole. The story of 
 
 Antarctic Exploration. Dr. H. R. Mill, LL.D., D.Sc. 
 
 With over Seventy Illustrations from Photographs, Charts 
 
 and Drawings ; and a large Coloured Map by J. G. 
 
 Bartholomew. 
 " Dr. Mill writes with spirit as well as erudition ; and his book is not only a 
 larger 'monument of learning, but also amore entertaining composition than the works 
 on the same topic of Herr Fricker and Mr. Balch." — The Times. 
 
 ' ' The author is a man of science who has the rare gifl of making difficult things 
 clear to the unscientific mind, and nothing could be better than bis explanations of ' 
 the importance of observations in the Antarctic to a true theory of t^rcstrial 
 magnetism. . . , The accounts .of most of the earlier voyages are out of print 
 and only to be found in great libraries ; and Dr. Mill has done 'excellent services by 
 relating these voyages in detail, and illustrating them copiously by maps and engrav 
 ings." — The Athen-eum. 
 
 " The present volume is a triumphant demonstration of his literary insight 
 and skill, for while faking no^ sacrifice of scientific accuracy, he has produced a 
 narmtive of ^tarctic exploration which will fascinate the intelligent schoolboy as 
 sure as it willnistruct the serious student of Polar exploration." — ^Morning Post. 
 
 Further India.^ Being the story of Exploration from the 
 Earliest Times in Burma, Malaya, Siam and Indo-China. 
 Hugh Clifford, C.M.G,, Author of " In Court and Kam- 
 pong,** ** Studies in Brown Humanity," etc., etc. With 
 Forty-eight Illustrations from Drawings, Photogrg,phs and 
 Maps ; and two large Maps in Colour by J. G, Bartho- 
 lomew. ^ / 
 "Those who desire to gain a better knowledge of the past and present history of 
 
 exploration in India cannot do better than read this excellent book.— The Field. 
 " All that has been written and published Mr. Clifford has industriously 
 
 examined and collated, and he has arranged It in consecutive narratives, abounding 
 
 in dramatic episodes or exciting incidents. The story is as intricate as it k 
 
 interesting, "-^The Westminster Gazette. 
 
 " Another volume in this most excellent series. Mr. Clifford has produced a 
 
 thoroughly readable, trustworthy and fascinating book, well indexed and well 
 
 illustrated."— The Academy. 
 
 The St. Lawrence Basin and its Border- 
 lands. Dr. S. E. Dawson, Litt.D., F.R.S.C. With 
 Forty-eight Illustrations from Drawings and Photographs ; 
 and a large Coloured Map by J. G. Bartholomew. 
 
 "In its pages the reader will find a mass of information which he could onlv 
 collect for himself by years of study ; he will also recelve^eat assistance from the 
 reproduction of maps with which the book is furnished ; while the illustrations will 
 enable him to form a very good idea of this-portion of the Canadian Dominion, both 
 as regards its past and present Qondition. In conclusion, we wo]aId again call the 
 attention of our i^eaders to thb valuable series of works. They are all written by ^ 
 men who are undoubted authorities on the different countries they describe, they 
 are 'all furnished with maps, nicely illustrated, and should find a place on the 
 shelves of every well-regulated library.'' — The Field. 
 
 *' The story of the discovery and exploration of the north-eastern part of. the 
 continent of North America, a story peculiarly rich in historical, geographical, and 
 adventurous interest, has been told once more, and told very fully and well by 
 Dr.S. E. Dawson . .". whose narrative, as a whole, does complete and careful 
 justice to every aspect of a story of progressive exploration as replete with varied 
 interest and moving adventure as any in the history of the world."— The World. 
 
 " He is writing a geographical rather than a political history, and, incidentally, 
 demonstrates how mteresting that can be made.'' — The Standard. 
 
 The IMIie Quest, a Record of the Exploration of the 
 Nile and its Basin, by Sir Harry H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., 
 K.C.B. With over Seventy Illustrations from Drawings 
 and Photographs by the Author and by others. Maps by 
 J. G. Bartholomew, 
 
 17 
 
."Tbfi record of the quest could not foil to be a fascinating story. SU Harry 
 Johnston has done a useful service in setting foith the oflten tangled results of 'African 
 exploration in a clear narrative." — The Spectatqb. 
 
 " Few men are better fitted than Sir Harry Johnston to tell the tale of ' ^e 
 Nile Quest.' He traces the routes of successive travellers, prefacing e!u:h narrative 
 with brief biographical sketches. ... He holds the balance with.|udicial im- 
 partiality, ano'vindicate^ some unjustly discredited reputations. , , . It is singularly 
 attractive, and some of his descriptions of scenery and the n ative races may vie with 
 the best of the extracts from the works of eloquent travellers." — ^Thb Times. 
 
 "We know of no book in which the whole history of Nile eiroloration, from 
 the earliest times up to the very latest discoveries in the Sob at* and Bahr-el>Ghazel 
 regions, i& narrated so fully and accurately as it is here." — The Manchester 
 Guardian. 
 
 Tibet the Mysterious. By coi. sirThos. holdicq. 
 
 K.C.M.G., K.C,I.E.. C.B. With Fifty Illustrations from 
 Photographs and Charts, and a large Coloured Map. 
 
 I " It is a story full of notable and romantic episodes, and it is brilliantly narrated 
 by Sir Thomas Holdich, who gives, moreover, graphic descriptions of the country 
 itself and its people. No more fascinating book on Tibet has appeared." — Truth. 
 
 " Deserving of the warmest recognition;*' — Btrviingkam Post. 
 
 " Kvery page of his book bears witness to the thoroughness of his methods^ and 
 there are several maps which will be of great value to geographical students."— 
 Dundee Courier, 
 
 ' ' Most of those who read the volume on the exploration of Tibet, by Sir-Thomas 
 Holdich, will agree that it takes the first place for interest of narrative and ability of 
 compilation in 5ie whole scries." — Daily Mail. 
 
 ''Altogether indispensable to the serraus student of Tibet the Mysterious." — 
 Daily News. 
 
 RiDcrs's popular Gift Books, 
 
 The Pinafore Library, crown j6mo. 
 
 Per Set in Case, 2s. 6d. net. 
 The time is ripe for a novelty in children's books, and the " Pinafore Library " 
 is altogether a fre^ departure. Here are five delightful little volumes, all written 
 by authors of repute, which, while full of fascination for the youngest child, po^ess 
 undeniable literary distinction. The bright and attractive appearance given to 
 these little books by the artistic pictorial paper boards, and the delicately executed 
 and fanciful end-papers cannot fail to enhance the merits of this series. 
 
 Christina's Fairy Book. Ford Madox Hdeffer. 
 The Travelling Companions. 
 
 Lady Margaret Sa<;kville. 
 Highways and Byways in Fairyland. 
 
 Artbdr Hansome. 
 The Fairy Doll. Ketta Svreti. 
 Who's Who in Fairyland. Anne Fvne. 
 
 Willie Westingiiouse Edison Smitli. The 
 
 Boy Inventor. By Frank Crane. 
 
 Little Sammy Sneeze. By wimsor mcCav. two 
 
 new and amusing flat books in which the pictures tell the 
 story. Each Ss. 6d. net. 
 
 The Zoo : A scamper. By "Walxer Emanuel. With 
 Illustrations by John Hassall. Is. net. 
 
 The Magic Jujubes. By Theodora Wilson Wilson, 
 Author of " Our Joshua," etc. With eight illustrations by 
 J. W. Hammick. 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Guide to Fairyland, written and illustrated 
 by Dion Clayton Calthrop. Crown 4tp. - 5s. net. 
 
 The Faery Year. By g. a. b. dewar. 336 pp. Demy 
 
 Svo, with eight illustrations. 7s. 6d. 
 
 ' 18 
 
miscellaneous publications. 
 
 Peter Binney, Undergraduate. Archibald 
 
 Marshall. A 'Varsity Story, 6s. 
 
 Sigrns of the Times, or the Hustlers' 
 
 Almanac for 1907. By the Authors of " Wisdom 
 v^le you Wait." Profusely Illustrated. 1s. net. 
 
 Sessional : Big Ben Ballads. By the Authors 
 
 of " The Great Crusade." Illustrated. Is. net. 
 
 Change for a Halfpenny. By the Authors of 
 
 " Signs of the Times." Profusely Illustrated. Is. net. 
 
 Mixed IVIaxims, or Proverbs of the Pro- 
 fessor. By Monte Carlo. Illustrated. 2s. Sd. net. 
 
 More Cricket Songs, nokman gale. imp. i6mo. 
 
 2s. net. 
 
 Home Made History. Hansard Watt. imp. i6mo. 
 
 Illustrated. 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 The Polo Annual for 1908. Edited by l. v. l. 
 
 SiMMONDS. Is. net. 
 
 THE LADY OF "OUR VILLAGE," 
 One of Thovtas HootCs Drawings. 
 
 Bradbury, Agnbw, & Co. Ld.. London and Tohbridge. (4783-<-a8.) 
 
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEIVIENT, 
 
 JUNE 30th 1908. 
 
 The , . 
 
 €oerareen Roi?el$ 
 
 H, Hr. Alston Rivers has pleasure in announcing a New Series 
 of Fiction, on which lie has bestowed the appropriate title of 
 " Tbe Evergreen Novels." Neatly bound in a delicate green 
 cloth, with pictorial design, all the volumes will be really 
 successful copyright works, nay, more than that, books that 
 possess merits that will last, and not merely ephemeral. 
 
 The First Three Volumes are; 
 
 A Pixy in Petticoats 
 
 By John Trevena, Author of "Arminel of the West"; "Furze 
 thiB Cruel," etc. Is. net 
 
 " ' A Pixy In Petticoats ' is as good a story of Dartmoor as has been written 
 these many moons." — Evening Standard, 
 
 " A glance at any chapter is almost as good as a breath of that breeze which 
 charges at you on the top of Hay oc Yes Toi."— Bystander. 
 
 The House of Merrilees 
 
 By Arcbibald Marshall, Author of "Peter Binney, Under- 
 graduate"; "Richard Baldock"; " Exton Manor," Is. net 
 
 " It is a pleasure to praise a booli of this liind, and rare to find one in which a 
 narrative of absorbing interest is combined with so many literary graces." — 
 
 Boohmim, 
 " The best mystery novel since Sir A. Conan Doyle's ' Sign of Four." " — 
 
 Daily Graphic, 
 " Can reeommen'l cordially and with confidence to those who like a really 
 good story, well constructed and excellently told,"— Punch, 
 
 A London Girl 
 
 TALES FROM THE GREAT CITY. 
 
 By the Author of " Closed Doors," and "The Rainy Day." 
 
 The Bishop of London, addressiiig a meeting at the Northampton Institute, 
 Finsbury, said: "I have lately been reading a. story which interested and 
 impressed me very much indeed. All yon men ought to read it. It was called 
 -' A London Girl.' The picture painted in it ma^e a great impression on me, 
 because I know fibm my own experience in rescue and preventative work that 
 the story is literally true. It is the story of the downfall of hundreds of our girls 
 in London to-day , The pitiful tale is not overdrawn ; it is all too true," 
 
 "Certain it is that the author of this pitiless tale is neither ordinary nor 
 inexperienced. * Baby * is a great creation. She leaps from the printed page 
 into lovely, merry life,'and all through she exercises a spell over one." — 
 
 Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 " We have had many good things from Mr. Alston Rivers in his year or so of 
 publishing, and his new venture, ' Tales from the Greact City,' promises to be one 
 of the most striking amongst themJ'~-Bystander. 
 
 Purtber Volumes in this Series will be anaounced ia due course.