8 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



Oxford, and I was destined for the Bar — more, I 

 fancy, as introductory to some other career than 

 as Hkely to lead to the Woolsack. By good or evil 

 chance, I don't know which, a leading member of 

 the party then in opposition met me in a country- 

 house and took a fancy to me, and offered me a 

 billet as a sort of unpaid assistant secretary. I 

 was the fortunate or unfortunate possessor of an 

 income sufficient to keep me. I was young, 

 fairly clever, full of debating-society political 

 enthusiasm, and I gladly accepted the offer as 

 likely to open a path satisfactory to legitimate 

 ambition. And it did. For the first few years, 

 for so long, in fact, as I occupied a subordinate 

 position, the footsteps of time trod pleasantly. 



" The work was easy, if uninteresting, con- 

 sisting mainly of looking up a few facts and 

 statistics, of writing polite letters of disapproval, 

 or non-committal letters of approval, of soothing 

 the wounded self-importance of an occasional 

 constituent, and of applying to fractured engage- 

 ments some plausible excuse. I saw the best of 

 the best society. I was looked upon as * a rising 

 young man' and I knew it. In short I had a 

 very good time. It was not until my superior 

 officer obtained a nice little government post as 



