White Feather

s. He foundthat his fives helped him. He could get about

f and awkward, and no more. But he kept on,and by the end of the first week Joe Bevan declared de

improving," he said at theend of the sixth l

blows in on some of thegentlemen I teach to o

enyou can gallop, you can't see yourself getting on any further. But

a thing if I'd gone tothe school instructor.""Who is your school instructor, sir?""A man named Jenkins. He used to be in the army.""Well, there, you see, that's what it is. I know old George Jenkins. Heused to be a pretty good boxer in his time, but there! boxing's athing, like everything else, that moves with the times. We used to goabout in iron trucks. Now we go in motor-cars. Just the s

nt by, Sheen began to imbibe some of Joe Bevan's ruggedphilosophy of life. He began to understand that the world is a placewhere every man has to look after himself, and that it is the strongerhand that wins. That sentence from _Hamlet_ which Joe Bevan was sofond of quoting practically summed up the whole duty of man--and boytoo. One should not seek quarrels, but, "being in," one should do one'sbest to ensure that one's opponent thought twice in future beforeseeking

develop a style of his own, like some nervousbatsman at cricket who does not show his true f

ered in the exercise of his professional duties;but, nevertheless, Sheen had never felt anything so painful before, noteven in his passage of arms with Albert. He came out of the encounterwith a swollen lip and a feeling that one of his ribs was broken, andhe had not had the pleasure of landing a

es when one has forcedoneself to go through an ord

ouwould lay down or not when you began to get a few punches. You didc

that. They're all rightwhen they're on top and winning, and to see them shape you'd say toyourself, By George, he

eptitious visits to the "Blue Boar." Twice heescaped being caught in the most sensational way; and once Mr Spence,who looked after the Wrykyn cricket and gymnasium, and playedeverything equally well, nearly caused complications by inviting Sheento play fi

s a useful man. Sheen being one of the few players in the school whowere up to his form, Harrington ignored the cloud under which Sheenrested. When they met in the world outside the fives-courts Harringtonwas polite, but made no overtures of friendship. That, it may bementioned, was the attitude of eve

before breakfast some ti

to have few friends, and had made up his mind that he wouldtry and bring

like to, sir

e half-dozen fives-courts at Wrykyn. After school sometimes youwould see fags racing across the gravel to appropriate it for theirmasters. The rule was that whoever first pinned to the door a piece

and atfirst inexplicable to Sheen. It was strange to hear him declaiming longspeeches from _Macbeth_ or _Hamlet_, and to think that he wasby profession a pugilist. One evening he explained his curiouserudition. In his youth, before he took to the ring in earnest, he hadtravelled with a Shakespearean repertory company. "I never played astar part," he confessed, "but I used to come on in the Battle ofBosworth and in Macbeth's castle and what not. I've been First Citizensometimes. I was the carpenter in _Julius Caesar_. That was mybiggest part.

ndah when he asked this question. It wasgrowing dusk, and the evening seemed to invite confidences. Sheen,looking out across the river and avoiding his friend's glance,explained just what it was that made it so difficult

asplucky as anyone. It's simply a question of keeping your head. Youwouldn't do a thing like that again, not you. Don't you worry yourself,sir. We're all alike when we get bustled. We don't know wha