8 MAJOR W. HODSON. 



locks. He was not popular, perliaps — because, being 

 fond of long runs, he followed in a measure his own 

 fancies. He was known to be clever and fond of 

 reading, but took no prizes. As a fag's master he 

 was strict, but took his fag's part, and was not 

 unreasonable. 



" We stayed on at Rugby till I ceased to be a fag 

 and came to know him as a friend ; and after I left, 

 and he had gone to college, we met at times at 

 Leamington." 



Another schoolfellow, Mr Thomas Arnold, has also 

 written of William Hodson in his ' Passages from a 

 Wanderin<T Life ' : " Hodson of Hodson's Horse, 

 who boarded at Price's house, was in the Sixth 

 Form at the same time with me. He had a re- 

 markable face, his complexion being smooth and 

 brilliant as that of a girl, while his hair was of a 

 bright golden yellow. He was tall and well made, 

 and a first-rate runner : if I remember right he was 

 regarded as the best runner in the school. His 

 expansive and impulsive nature won him many 

 friends, and for my own part I always liked him 

 greatly. His faults were arrogance, rashness, and 

 a domineering temper ; and if one bears this in 

 mind, it is easy to understand the errors into which 

 he fell in India." 



How far Hodson's health interfered at times with 

 his regular school work may be gathered from a 

 letter written to his father by Dr Arnold in Decem- 

 ber 1839 : "My report of your son's progress has 

 been completely deranged by the state of his health, 

 which not only hindered him from doing anything at 

 all at his examination, but prevented him from doing 

 his regular compositions during a great part of the 



