None Other Gods

ike an absolute idiot," sa

added his left foot to his rig

athletes and the dawdlers have not yet returned from field and river; and Fellows and other persons, young enough to know better, who think that a summer evening was created for the reading of books, have not yet emerged from their retreats. A white-aproned cook or two moves across the cobbled spaces with trays upon t

rs led out of it-two into a tiny bedroom and a tinier dining-room respectively; the third on to the passage leading to the lecture-rooms. Frank found it very convenient

gate-leg table; a bureau; shelves filled with very indiscriminate literature-law books, novels, Badminton, magazines and ancient school editions of the classics; a mahogany glass-fronted bookcase packed with volumes of esthetic appearance-green-backed poetry books with white labels; old leather tomes, and all the rest of the specimens usual to a man who has once thought

g, humorous mouth, and black eyes-of an extraordinary twinkling alertness. His clean-shaven face, brown in its proper complexion as well as with healthy sunburning (he had played very vigorous lawn-tennis for the last two months), looked like

rd Trinity blazer-was a complete contrast in appearance. The other had something of a Southern Europe look; Jack was obviously

e time from smoking, and looking determinedly away from Frank upon the floor. For the last week he had talked over this affair, ever sin

te brown-paper parcels innumerable pieces of bread and butter, addressing each with the name of the Reverend Junior Dean (who had annoyed Frank in some way), and the leaving of the parcels about in every corner of Cambridge, in

ycles so soon as it had been ascertained that it was true; the Affair of the German Prince traveling incognito, into which the Mayor himself had been drawn; and the Affair of the Nun who smoked a short black pipe in the Great

ut there were very few persons who would actually carry them all out to the very end: in fact, Jack reflected, Frank Guiseley was

had come in a little late for five-o'clock school, whether "Guiseley would not like to have tea before pursuing his studies." Frank, with a radiant smile of gratitude, and extraordinary rapidity, had answered t

d said, "I thought y

ve you

inly, sir;

irably conceived and faithfully executed, but they seemed to show that Frank was the kind of person who really carr

six days previously, in which all the well-worn phrases occurred as to "darkening doors" and "roof" and "disgrace to the family," Frank had a

't he wait a bit until the governor had had time to cool down? Because the governor must learn, sooner

iends. Neither was he going to skulk about near home. Well, if he was so damned obstinate, why didn't he go into the City-or even to the Bar? Because (1) he hadn't any money; and (2) he would infi

again," said Jack at

refl

. "No, it isn't; it's in the pouch on the floor. I know I associa

the pouch, took out the letter,

field

Harr

8th, T

ist, I will have no more to do with you. From this moment you cease to be my son. You shall not, while I live, darken my doors again, or sleep under my roof. I say nothing of what you have had from me in the past-your education and all the rest. An

at your poor mother ha

T

rous sound as he finish

ht, doesn't he?" he ob

my governor-" be

world who'd write such a letter as that nowadays. It's-it's too early-Victorian. They'd hard

ou answ

.... No, I haven't. I remember now

hall," rem

d a swift f

ty, "I'll never speak to you again. I mean it.

ut

! give me your

I

, this instant, or

s a paus

ght," s

ell a silenc

I

at Frank held of his effects a couple of days later. He carri

crowds of undergraduates and female relations began to circulate about after tea and iced

CAMBRIDGE. The Ho

e in announ

th (Sa

st ten a.m

r J, Great Court,

ositively

BY AU

ture, books, etc., of the Ho

of suggestive-looking volumes bound in faint colors, with white labels; four oriental mats; a portrait of a gentleman (warranted a perfectly respectable ancestor); dining-room suite (odd chairs); numerous engravings of places of interest and noblemen's seats; a Silver Cigarette-box and fifteen Cigarettes in it

st Ten a.m

d strangers, co

serve

tion with the Dean that the sale was allowed to proceed. But it proceeded, with the distinct understanding that a college porter be present; that no riotous b

self was mos

seethed with the company, male and female, all in an excellent humor, and quite tolerable prices were obtained. No public explanations were given of the need for the sale, and Jack, in the deep

indly ask me to lunch. The

ooked

just a little flushed, and such an air of drama

" said Jack. "Where are yo

'm sleeping in a hammock.

cross from a couple of pegs, and there lay a small carpet-bag beneat

Jack. "And is that

lothes I've got on to you, and you c

do you

eat from the Dean at half-past six this evening. He proposes

n't mea

ainly

you goin

flanneled legs, end

hirt, no tie, a ca

in in silence,

ney did your

fact is that when I've paid all my bills I shall ha

ha

eleven shilling

into a mirt

along to lun

deal as they started-he had drawn all his remaining money in gold from the bank-and they bulged and jingled considerably less as the two returned to tea in Jesus Lane. There, on the ta

nds," said Frank. "Th

damned fool!

udent," said Frank.

f tea and the butte

d to Trinity. They had ridden together in the holidays, shot, dawdled, bathed, skated, and all the rest. They were considerably more brothers to one another than were Frank and

the Lent Boat of his first year at Cambridge; then he had given up rowing and played lawn-tennis in the summer and fives in the Lent Term just well enough to make a brisk and interesting game. He was not at all learned; he had reached the First Hundred at Eton, and had read Law at Cambridge-that convenient branch of study which for the most part fills the vacuum for intelligent persons who have

ical; to be pious was equally bad form-it resembled a violent devotion to the Union Jack. No; religion to Jack (and he had always hitherto supposed, to Frank) was a department of life in which one did not express any particular views: one did not sa

the whole thing. He had marched into Jack's room

t the Catholic

he-" be

o go. I'm a

ha

e one la

elf under instruction three months before, and had made his confession-(his confession!)-on Friday, and had been conditionally baptized; wh

ion," said Frank. "Are you c

make a few inquiries, but Frank had waved his hands at him, and repeated that obviously the Catholic religion w

said, to go along and see what happened. He had had a belt made, which pleased him exceedingly, into which his money could be put (it lay on the table between them during tea), and he proposed, naturally, to spend as little of that money as possible.... No; he would not take one penny piece from Jack; it would be simply scandalous if he-a public-school boy and an University man-

inly he'd be most obliged if his letters might be sent there, and he could write for

He supposed, what other people did in the winter. Perhaps he'd have

mentally, thre

o go on at this ro

ned his e

od Lord! did you th

n earth don't you get a proper situati

all wrong somehow. We're all so beastly artificial. I don't want to preach, but I want to test things for myself. My religion tells me-" He broke off. "No; this is fool

roads-" expo

the very point. B

sat

aid. "Why, I neve

ha

d grandmother

k st

ndmo

d Mrs.

ed suddenly

! She was a gipsy-so she was. I believe you've hit it, Jack.

nod

oads on his own estate. Wasn't

odded

ht to have committed her: And he married her ins

smiling

"Then I'm bound to m

k another

termined already to make use of it if necessa

he said "I suppose yo

-and the humor died out. He said nothing for an instant. Then he drew out of

aid. "I'm going to post it to-n

nced dow

s La

Rec

ield,

e turned it over; it w

bit," said Frank, "and that I'

was s

s fair on her?" he

e broke up

observed. "And, to tell the

er's wife! And

Frank. "Jenny and I quite understan

it qui

all's fair-under certain circumstances? I do bar that rotten conventionalism. We're all rotten-rotten

. Then he threw the end

n," he said. "It's cl

I

th a few remarks on the fauna, flora, imports, characteristics and geological features of those countries to which those epistles were written, and in which they were composed. These notes, guaranteed to guide any student who really mastered them to success, and even distinction, in his examinations, were the result of a lifetime of loving labor, and some day, no doubt, will be issued in the neat blue covers of the "Cambridge Bible for Schools." From eleven to twelve he lectured on Church history of the first five centuries-after which period, it will be remembered by all historical students, Church history practically ceased. At one he lunched; from two to four he walked

itzerland, dressed in a neat gray Norfolk suit with knickerbockers, and the rest with clerical friends of the scholastic type. It was a very solemn thou

, for example, to Mr. Mackintosh, with great politeness.) Certainly he was not very regular at chapel, and he did not dine in hall nearly so often as Mr. Mackintosh would have wished (for was it not part of the University idea that men of all grades of society should meet as equals under the college roof?). But, the

to him. He thought, if the young man were really going down for good, as he had understood this morning, it was only his p

in!" to the knock on the door (I think he thought it helped to create

ase sit down. I understood from you this

," said

eat book-resembling the butt of a check-book-t

said

an, inscribing Frank's name i

said

To London

" said Frank; "at l

refully, and extracted the exeat.

about that. It was very unusual; and I wondered.... But I am happy to think that there w

much money as ever

.. And ... and yo

ow," said Frank serenely. "I

ertainly this young man was ve

let me say so, Mr. Guiseley, even at this late hour, I must say that I think that

I thin

ergy now may perhaps make up for lost time. I

at him pensiv

e roads. I mean it, quite seriously. My father's disowne

n's face was stricken, as though by horror. Ye

. "Please don't argue with me ab

e roads ... your own living ... the c

t burst from Mr.

become a Catholic! I expe

fierce a word may be used of so mild a

me all about it. I had not

he could, the various steps he had taken, and the climax of the letter from his father. Then he braced himself, to hea

uosity, the shock to an ancient family, the responsibilities of membership in that family, the dangers of rash decisions, and, fina

all the proper things, all the sensible and reasonable and common-sense things, and he said them, not offensively or contemptu

ill. For Frank was so quiet that the Dean thought him already half persuaded. Then once more he summed up, when his glasses were fixed again; he ran through his arguments lightly and ef

ry much,"

nd talk to me again. I've given you your exeat, but you

stoo

.. I'll certainly remember what you've sai

ent," smiled the Dean, pointing at it

t it dow

tainly!"

that you confided in me. Young men are a little unwise and impetuous some

oss to a passage opposite, found a friend's door open, and rushed in. The room was empty. He flew across to the window and

y leading towards the street. He gave him twenty seconds, and then ran out himself, and went in pursuit. Half-way up the lane he sighted him once more, and, following

lmost aloud. "Poor Jack-I'm afraid I shan'

I

t along the little lane that leads from Trinity Hall to Trinity College, yawning as he went, and entirel

stel, a species of pad that hung over on both sides of the formidable array of points. Upon

himself-comparatively speaking-against the outer

fell abruptly on to the pavement; and, again, a moment later, two capable-looking hands made their appearance, gr

any sign; he only sidled a step

d astride of the saddle, with his back to the observer. There was a pause while the rider looked to this side and that

n, rising and dusting his hands, "it's all right

V

ng, Jack Kirkby awoke suddenly

ar too many things to think about; and he framed so many speeches to be delivered with convincing force at breakfast to his misguided friend, that by seven o'clock he made up his mind that he would get up, go and take Frank to bathe, and have b

t on a sweater, trousers, socks, canvas shoes, and a blazer, and went immediately down the oilcloth-covered stairs. As he undid the door he noticed a white thing lying ben

very knowledge that he had got up earlier in order to have an extra hour with Frank before the final severance came. Yet there was something in him-the same thing that had urged him to rehearse little speeches in bed just now-that told him that until it had actually happened, it had not happened, and, just conceivably,

as fo

ar

o my people directly I left him. I tracked him down. And there'll be t

ou

F

him it'll make a scandal for Trinity College, Cambridge, if he makes a fuss. That'll stop him

blazer and no cap, stood, very inarticulate with breathlessness, at the door of the Se

h, sir!" expostul

come out of it

if 'e's o

in it, if he isn

oorway of the audience-room; then he was up the inner stairs in three strides, through the

there?

kby! I'm sorry to

with a renewed sound of water, as if som

or a crack. A cry of dismay answered his move, foll

as obvious from the sounds that the clergyman had got into bed again, wet, and a

d his person. A face, with wet hair, looking very odd and childlike without his glasses, regarded him with the look of one who sees sacrilege done. A lon

s the meaning of

his very officer of the college was referred to in it as "that ass" and "the little man." ... All his attention, not occupied with Frank, was fixed on the surprising new discovery that deans had bodies and use

is glasses were unattainable, with an arm of which not more than the wrist appeared. He swallow

" said the Dean. "

me to-day," said Jack, "and

had n

egraph, didn

d. Yes; to Lord Talgart

at's all. And now he's g

a moment or two. Jack ma

ean, with the air of one who has exh

ood Lor

ain. As soon as I'm dress

eight. That's no good. He'

an with sudden energy. "I forbid you to take

ut

scandal.... What e

ings. Motor-c

again. Jack thought afterwards that it must have been the memory of certain other phrases in the letter.) "So i

and went ou

ance with the instructions he had given his landlady last night, and he had not the heart to push the things aside. There were soles for two, a

man, was all that had presented itself to his imagination; but he had begun to realize by now that you cannot, after all, abduct a young man who has committed no crime, and carry him back unwilli

ng a motor-car by the day, and proceeding to scour the country round Cambridge. But even this did not stand scrutiny. If he had failed to persuade Frank to remain in Cambridge, it was improbable that he could succeed in persuading him to return-even if he foun

rdinary flat and stupid place now that Frank was no longer within it. Really there was nothing particular to do. It had become almost a regular engagement for him to step round to the Great Court about elev

eer in the shade. But it seemed an amazing waste of company that the figure should always be alone. Why hadn't he proposed to go with him himself? He didn't know; except, that it cer

when Frank said that he was going do a thing, he usually did it! And Jack Kirkby did not see h

at might mean. He would stroll round presently and talk to the porter about it ... Yes, he would

neously; and he had to hold his pipe in his hand out of respect for rules, as he conversed with the stately Mr. Hoppett in Trinity gateway. Mr.

ly, "I had nothing to do with the el

t that, sir," said M

e not got t

e not,

d in spite of himself, as he peered in and heard footsteps in the bedroom beyond. But i

Mrs. Jilling

the auction and thought it a very improper t

s,

a saddle he

. What should there b

uely. "I've come to fetch

ot, a burnt cork and three or four wisps of hair of various shades, the part of almost any eminent authority in the University of Cambridge that you cared to name. There were long histories, invented by Frank himself, of the darker sides of the lives of the more respectable members of the Senate-histories that grew, like legends, term by term-in which the most desperate deeds were done. The Master of Trinity, for example, in these

e very door through which the Vice-Chancello

t last night (he noticed the ends of three cigarettes placed on the cover of a convenient biscuit-tin), and went off resembling a retiarius.

V

Grunty Fen. He looked this way and that, wondering whether it were as late as his kitchen-clock informed him, and observing the sun, that hung now lamentably high up in that enormous dome of summer sky that sat on the fenland like a dish-cover on a dish. And

aid the young gen

made some

ervation. "I'm willing and capable. Do you know of any? I mean, work tha

ded the young gen